Angelic Vampire
by MsRahvin79
Summary: A twist on Twilight. Jasper went to the Cullens with Alice and the all run into Bella in school. There is something strange going on in Jasper's life which will change everyone's outlook on the world. Join Jasper on his journey to solve a riddle that he started before he ever left the homestead in Texas.
1. Prologue

**AN – Ok, so I know most of you are waiting for updates on LUBM or Darkness, but this new muse just dove in front of the line and I could not get him to shut up. Then again when Jasper starts talking to you, you sit and listen. So, here is the start of a new Jasper fic and I'm excited to see where it will lead. As always, I don't own Twilight, just wish I owned Jasper. Enjoy!**

Chapter 1 - Prologue

**JPOV **

Looking around the snow covered land; I stretched out my senses to find my prey. The moon was shining brightly and I stuck to the shadows as I stalked the herd of elk in front of me. I had just reached the edge of the trees and was planning my attack on the herd before me when I felt a presence behind me. Staying focused on the elk, I scented the air, but I didn't detect anything other than myself and the elk. Wondering if I had imagined it, I picked out the two elk I would separate from the herd when I felt like I was being watched. This was not the first time I had felt that way and yet every time it happened I scanned my surroundings and found nothing.

As the feeling intensified, I decided to forego my hunt and moved to turn around, but was stopped.

"Stay as you are vampire."

I froze. I wanted to turn to see who had spoken but it was as if I was wired to obey that voice. It was a soft, breezy voice and yet it held the tone of authority that I was unable to ignore. Immediately I fell back onto my military training and stood to my full height in silence, waiting to be addressed. I was rewarded by a soft chuckle.

"I always wondered how you would react to me."

I heard movement behind me and felt a breeze move through my hair, with it came the smell of jasmine and something else I couldn't place.

"I have been watching you for a long time, vampire." The owner of the voice sighed. "I have been stuck here for an even longer time and I did not know why until I heard about you."

I stood there, wanting to see who this voice belonged to as the presence now felt familiar to me, like I had known them for a long time. Yet, I had no recollection of who this could be.

"We have not met before, Major, but I have been with you since before your time with Maria. I know you have questions and soon will come the time for you to receive your answers. You are not ready yet and truthfully neither am I."

The voice sounded sad and I could finally feel the emotions at war behind me, there was happiness and love at war with sadness and acceptance. Who was it behind me?

"I know you are reading me, Major, and I allowed it this time. I have to leave as it is not the time for us yet to meet. Do not speak of this to your coven. I promise you, vampire, that when you are ready to hear the answers to your questions, then and only then will I appear again."

I felt another wave of sadness hit me as a breeze caressed me again, bringing with it the smell of jasmine and what felt like a soft caress across my shoulders. Suddenly my body was my own again and I turned to look behind me. The space behind me was empty and I could no longer sense the presence within my range. As I stood there, hunt forgotten, going over what had just happened, something caught my eye.

Looking up towards the movement I watched a lone feather float through the air to land in my hand. Bringing it closer to my face, I saw that it was the same color as a raven's feather, the darkest black possible that had a blue hue to it. Taking a deep breath I could smell jasmine again. Somehow I knew that the feather was left for me intentionally. Scanning the area around me again, I still could not sense anyone but myself and the now forgotten herd of elk. Carefully holding onto the feather, I darted back to the house. I had the perfect place to keep this feather where it would be safely hidden.

**AN – Short message here. So what did you guys think? Is this enough of a teaser to lead into an actual story? I know its super short by my writing standards, but it is just a teaser like most prologues are. Let me know your thoughts, should it be continued? Need another chapter to decide if you want more? Feed me with reviews and I will have more to post. **


	2. 30 Yrs Ltr

**AN – Alright, so here is the first actual chapter where we get to see where everything is the same and yet different from Twilight. I want to say thanks as always to my loyal readers and I promise I will whip those muses into shape so I can get back to updating the other stories. And I just want to say thank you for the awesome response to just the prologue. Now..Enjoy!**

Chapter 2-

30 years later

**JPOV**

"Alice, hurry it up or we are going to be late for school." I called out with a sigh. It was always this way on the first day of the school year or first day back from break. "I will be out waiting with the others in the garage."

"Be right down, Jazz." She sang from her bathroom.

Shaking my head, I walked outside with a groan. Hopefully the next place we moved to I could go to college instead of being stuck in a building all day with hormonal teenagers. Walking out to the garage I could feel everyone's frustration at having to wait. "Don't look at me; you know nothing in this world can make Alice move faster if she doesn't want it to."

"If she isn't here in sixty seconds then she can drive herself." Edward snapped as he got behind the wheel of his Volvo. I quickly took the front passenger seat as Emmett and Rosalie climbed in the back. He shot me a look filled with concern.

I shook my head and thought, _we are fine. We can hunt later if you want to talk._

He nodded and reversed out of the garage, pulling around to the front to wait for Alice. "Alice!"

"I'm here so stop your grousing." She said as she closed the back door. "Thanks for waiting, guys."

"Like we really had a choice?" Edward sighed as he started down the driveway. "Is there anything we should know about that could be happening today or is it just going to be another boring day at Forks High?"

Alice giggled. "There's a new girl starting today. The chief's daughter, but I haven't seen her in any of my visions for today so I can only imagine that we won't interact with her at all."

I could hear the annoyance in her voice. "Alice, not everyone needs to have you in their life."

"That's not very nice to say to me, Jazz." She pouted. "Everyone needs a bit of me in their lives. If not the world would look much worse than it does now."

Rose snorted. "Alice, for once can we just have a normal day without you critiquing everyone in school and telling them how to dress better?"

"Oh, Rose, you know you feel the same way."

"I do, but I don't care enough to voice it." Rose snapped. "Let's just have a day where we completely ignore the humans for once."

"If that is what you want." Alice closed her eyes as she leaned her head against the window. "Today will be a day of ignoring the humans."

"Thank you." Rose smiled as we parked in our normal spot in the parking lot.

I got out of the car, glad to be somewhere that I could legitimately put distance between myself and Alice. Pretending that we were still together for the others was really starting to wear on my patience. Glancing at Edward, I caught his confusion.

_Stay out of my head_, I thought, _we will talk later, but stay out of my head_.

He nodded before walking towards the school with us following his lead. Emmett had his arm around Rose's shoulders staking his claim and Alice walked next to me out of habit but did not touch me. I sighed, we were going to have to come clean to the family about our separation soon, this was getting past the point of insanity.

Walking through the doors into the school, we split up, each going to our first period classes. My first class was History with Rose and it was the only class I enjoyed in this horrid high school. I would listen as Mr. Harris talked about what happened and I would silently laugh at all of the incorrect facts that he spewed. It wasn't like I could challenge him though; he didn't know that I had lived through most of the history he taught.

We took our seats in the back and prepared for another boring class where the other students gossiped about the Cullen kids and wished they were a part of the family. Just before the final bell signaled the start of class the door opened again and I sat up straight in my seat.

The new girl, Isabella Swan, walked in the door with her head down cast as she handed a slip of paper to Mr. Harris. She stood by patiently waiting for him to sign the paper and directed her to take a seat. She looked up and frowned when the only available seat was the one in front of me, which I found odd. Normally humans only tried to avoid us after they had been close to us, not beforehand.

I watched her walk to the desk in front of me and place her bag next to it before sitting down, not once lifting her head from her feet. I took in her sent, it was a crisp smell mixed with jasmine. It made me think of being in a field of jasmine with the first snowfall of the year. I closed my eyes as a sense of contentment flowed through me. I couldn't tell if it was coming from Isabella or me so I tried to read her emotions, but was unable to get a firm read. I watched her the whole class and she never once lifted her head from her desk, which was odd.

As the bell rang, Rose and I stood to move for the door and I was about to say something to Isabella, but she was already walking out of the door. I looked to Rose and she just shrugged. My next two classes passed without anything happening and no Isabella or any of my siblings. When the bell rang signaling the end of third period and the beginning of lunch, I went to the cafeteria to meet up with everyone so we could pretend to eat. Everyone was already at our table when I walked in and Alice had grabbed a tray of food for me.

I was pushing the fries around my plate when the cafeteria grew silent. We turned to look and saw that Isabella had finally made it to the cafeteria. She made her way over to the lunch line and then scanned the room for an open seat. I watched as her shoulders slumped when she found only one open seat and that was at the table closest to ours. I caught her glance at us before moving to the seat next to Mike Newton.

Mike tried to draw her into a conversation, but she only nodded at him, never actually speaking. He decided it was too much work so he went back to talking to Jessica, leaving Isabella to her thoughts. I watched her push her food around her plate much as I was doing. I took the last moments of lunch to watch her and I tried to read her emotions, but she was coming across as completely blank. This was the first human I had ever come across that was able to block me. Curious, I looked at Edward and caught his eye. _Can you hear her thoughts?_

Edward glanced in her direction and his brow furrowed before barely shaking his head.

So she was immune to both of our gifts. That really was a first and it had my curiosity piqued. Just then the bell rang signaling the end of lunch and we all headed off to our next classes. I was up for a wonderful hour of English Lit; well it would be wonderful if I didn't share this class with Alice. We walked in together and took our seats in the back. Just as with History this morning, right before the bell sounded to start class in walked Isabella.

She kept her head down as she handed a slip of paper to Mrs. Taylor. Again she kept her head down as she walked to the only seat open; this one was in front of Alice. Alice looked like she was going to say something to her but Isabella sighed as she sat down, sending out a sense of annoyance. I shook my head at Alice and she kept to herself for the remainder of class. I spent the rest of the day trying to understand how I could feel her emotions only some of the time.

The final bell rang signaling the end of the school day so I dumped my stuff in my locker and headed out to Edward's car. I ended up walking right behind Isabella and I noticed she tensed up when I got close to her. It was an odd reaction as humans usually relaxed around us if we were this close; it was a perk of being a vampire. Not with her though, she tensed and mumbled something so softly that even I couldn't understand her and darted out through the open doors. Once outside, I saw her get into an old beat up truck and drive out of the parking lot.

"Obsessed much?" Edward asked from beside his car causing me to laugh.

Joining him at his car I shrugged. "I'm intrigued. She is silent to you and I only randomly can sense her emotions. I can only say that Isabella is not your typical human."

The others joined us at the car and we climbed in to head home. I couldn't help but think about Isabella and how odd she was in relation to the other humans we dealt with. I felt compelled to figure her out.

Once we got home, everyone split off to do their own thing and Edward asked for me to go hunt with him. Knowing that we were going to be doing more talking than hunting, I almost said no but then I remembered our earlier conversation and nodded.

The hunt itself was nothing unusual. Edward managed to find himself a mountain lion and I took down a couple deer a few miles away from the furthest edge of our property. Edward moved to a boulder and sat down, staring at the sky. I rolled my eyes and sat on the grass close to the boulder, waiting for him to ask the question. I didn't have long to wait.

"So what's up with you and Alice?"

I closed my eyes and lay back in the grass. "We are no longer together. I want to tell the family, but she says that we need to wait and won't tell me why."

"I think you need to tell me what's going on, Jasper." Edward sighed. "You know the rest of the family will accept both of you regardless of being together or not."

"I know. It just feels odd to have come to this family as a couple and to have fallen apart over the past couple of decades." I opened my eyes to watch the clouds drift across the sky. Taking a deep breath, a hint of jasmine filtered through there air, tugging at a memory. "I guess I will talk to Alice about it when we get back to the house."

Edward shifted, looking around. "Good idea."

I sat up, noticing how uncomfortable he was looking. "Hey, what's up?"

"I'm not sure, I just feel…weird." He looked around again. "Like we are being watched."

I reached out with my senses and could feel nothing, but I started to feel the same thing, like we were being watched. I stood up and looked around us. We were out in the open, about fifty yards from the trees and about thirty yards from the cliff. I walked to the edge of the cliff and a sense of worry fell over me. I looked back at Edward, but he was more curious than anything. Pondering over the odd feeling, I looked out to the water and felt the worry again as a hint of jasmine filtered across my senses again. It seemed so familiar as well as being watched, these were things I had experienced since before Maria found me. Thinking about it, I noted that I hadn't felt that way in a couple of decades.

"Huh." I grunted at the force of the feelings that were now flowing into me. Happiness and excitement, love, but that was also tinged with worry, sorrow and acceptance. I looked up in the sky as I remembered these feelings and the conversation from back in Alaska. Remembering that conversation, I also remembered I was not to tell anyone in the family about it. "Crap."

"What's up Jasper? Did you find something over there?" Edward asked from his boulder.

I turned to look at him. Curious, it was like he couldn't read my thoughts. _Nothing, just stressing I guess._

"Did you hear me, Jasper?"

"What? Sorry." That was weird; he can't read my mind anymore. What gives? "Just stressing over telling the family about the breakup. You know Esme will go nuts trying to make sure everyone is ok."

"I understand. Let's go back. Might as well rip the band aid off right?" He laughed.

"Laugh now, pretty boy. Soon you will find someone and then we will see how much fun you have dealing with her and the family being in all of your business at the same time." I darted towards him and knocked him from his boulder, laughing as he flew backwards.

"I will get you back for that, Jasper." He stood up, brushing off his pants. "Hey, how did you do that? I should have seen that in your thoughts?"

"Maybe you're losing your touch, pretty boy." I smirked; it was nice having my thoughts all to myself. I felt a sense of pride flow over me. Maybe this all had to do with the visit I had all those years ago, I sent out a wave of thankfulness in the direction the other emotions were coming from, hoping that whoever it was could feel it. I started to walk back into the trees to head home when a breeze ruffled the hair on the collar of my shirt. Taking a deep breath, I smelled jasmine again and some spice that I wasn't yet able to place. I heard feathers rustling in the trees above me, but looking up, I saw nothing but a lone feather floating down towards my upturned face. I caught it and the smell of jasmine increased.

Edward stopped next to me, looking curious. "What do you have there?"

"Just a feather." I responded, twirling it between my fingers as I took off to the house. I had plans for this feather; it had a mate back in my study that it needed to join.

**AN – So what did everyone think? Enjoying my twist to Twilight? I don't want to make this a long note so, please, just let me know what you think. As with all of my stories, I love reviews and if you have any ideas or questions…please share. You guys are awesome and I hope to have the net chapter up soon.**

**Don't forget there is the FB page for updates and discussions. Just search for Bella &amp; Jasper – Love Under a Blood Moon and you should be able to find it easily. It will be the hub for all Twilight fanfic discussions as I have Darkness as well as one shots that are in the works. If you aren't reading Darkness…I highly recommend it, lol, but I may be a bit biased.**


	3. Raven

**AN – Ok, so we have had the joy of meeting all of the original cast. Bella is still her normal silent self to Edward, but she is also not easy for our boy to read. I will keep this short so you can get right to reading…Enjoy!**

Chapter 3

**JPOV**

Over the next few months, everything went a little crazy for us. Alice and I told the family about our split and amazingly everyone took it quite well. It seems they had seen it coming and even Esme was happy that we finally told everyone about it. So Edward was no longer the only single vamp in the house and Alice wouldn't tell anyone what she saw in our futures. School passed in a daze as usual for me, I tended to zone out so that I didn't have to feel the raging emotions of a couple hundred teenagers.

Edward started sneaking off to go do things on his own and Alice was cozying up to Isabella. I zoned out so much over this time frame that I was completely blind-sided when Edward finally told us all what had been going on and this was just minutes before this mystery girl of his was supposed to be arriving. Apparently he had brought her out here before while the rest of us were hunting and they hung out with Alice. It was shocking to me as the rest of the family seemed to know about it.

"Jasper?"

I looked up at Edward. "Yeah?"

"Are you going to be ok with this?"

"Color me confused, but what is it that I need to be ok with?" Unless he was going to tell me that Alice was secretly this new person, I didn't see how this was going to affect me at all.

"She's human."

"Oh." I sighed. She's human and he automatically assumes that I'm going to have control problems. Did he somehow forget that I spent five days a week locked up in a high school with hormonal teenagers? The worst kind of humans to be around and yet I have never once had any urge to chomp on one of them. "Thanks for the faith, brother. I'll be fine or I can leave if that makes you feel better."

"I didn't mean it like that, Jasper." Edward pinched the bridge of his nose. "You don't have to leave; I just don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"I have yet to run into a human that makes me uncomfortable, but to make it easier for you I will go hunt." He opened his mouth to respond, but I put my hand up. "I will stay and let you introduce us, but I don't have the patience for new love right now."

"If that is what you want to do, Jasper, then alright." Edward turned to the front door. "She's here."

We could all hear the crunch of the tires on our driveway and I could hear a steady heartbeat as she drew closer to the house. "Question, what does she know, Edward?"

His shoulders slumped. "Everything."

"Everything?" I snapped. "How could you put her in danger like that? Us?"

"I didn't tell her anything. She already knew what I was."

"You aren't making any sense. If you didn't tell her then who did? How does she know about us? Has she told anyone?" I was just seconds away from slipping into Major mode to fix this situation. None of us needed a human knowing about us and the problems that could arise from it.

Edward turned to glare at me; apparently he could hear those thoughts. "She figured it out on her own after doing some research. And no, before you start growling at me, she hasn't told anyone."

"How?" I paused. "You know what? Don't answer that. I don't need to know."

Just then the doorbell rang. We all watched as Edward left the room to answer the door. He greeted her and she spoke so softly that we couldn't hear anything but the sound of her voice. I leaned against the wall next to the sliding door as I honestly planned on leaving after my time of required socialness was over. I was looking out the door when he brought her in.

Edward took a deep breath. "Bella, this is my family. You know Emmett, Rose, Alice and Jasper from seeing them at school. These are my parents, Carlisle and Esme."

I looked over as he spoke and nodded, not honestly too shocked to find out that he was sniffing around the chief's daughter. I read his emotions and the most I could feel from him was curiosity and annoyance, which both had to stem from him being unable to hear her thoughts. I turned my focus onto Isabella, or Bella I guess, and paid close attention as she interacted with everyone else.

Bella had her head down, in a meek manor, as she nodded her greeting, but I could feel that she was anything but meek. The emotions rolling off her slammed into me and I was glad that I was already leaning against the wall. She was determined and irritated, yet I could feel joy underlining all of her emotions. She lifted her head for a moment to scan the room and her emotions cut off as soon as she saw me.

I raised my eyebrow at her as she became silent to me too. I stood there watching her for a moment more and decided it was time to leave. She wasn't inciting me into being thirsty; I just didn't want to be around Edward as he tried to fool the family into believing he loved the poor girl. I felt bad for her being stuck with the fool, but it wasn't up to me who she chose to be with. Stepping away from the wall, I was about to speak when she opened her emotions to me again. Closing my mouth I felt her annoyance double as she aimed it at me, but was quickly replaced by acceptance and sadness. After that dose of confusion, I really needed to get out of there.

"Bella, it was a pleasure to meet you." I tipped my head in her direction; mama raised me to be a gentleman after all. I turned to address Carlisle with a smirk. "I am heading out now, don't wait up for me."

"Be safe, Jasper." Esme said as I pulled the sliding door open.

I turned and gave her a smile. "Aren't I always, mom?"

She shook her head with a sigh. "Don't stay gone long."

Everyone turned back to the human curiosity in our living room and I ducked out the door. Running, I relished in the cool air flowing passed me as I ran at my top speed. I didn't have anywhere that I was trying to go to; I just let my feet take me where they wanted. Thirty minutes later I finally stopped and realized that I had run all the way into Canada. Oops.

Jumping up into a nearby tree I relaxed on the top branch with my back against the trunk. Staring out into the sky, I pulled a feather out of my back pocket. This was the second one that I had been given and it still smelled of jasmine. I still had no idea what was going on, but I needed to find out. Who was that in the forest thirty years ago? Why do I feel like they had been following me my whole life? And why not show themselves? What were they waiting for?

I don't know how long I sat there with those same thoughts swirling through my head when I started thinking about Edward and Bella. I knew that he didn't really care for her; she was merely going to be another pet to him, a curiosity for him to study. It had never bothered me in the past as they usually never knew what we were and they were never seen again by us once we moved. But Bella was different somehow, other than the fact that she already knew about us. How did she know? Should I really believe my brother when he says that he didn't tell her?

My phone buzzed in my pocket, pulling me from my thoughts. Pulling it out, I saw I received a text.

'The human is gone, come home brother –R'

I smiled, we may not be actual twins but Rose got me more than the rest of the family did.

'Heading home now –J'

I jumped from the tree and I set a leisurely pace back towards the house, not really wanting to rush back into a house full of people. The closer I got, the more confused I became over everything that had transpired in my life. Veering to the side, I felt drawn to the same cliff that Edward and I had gone to for our talk. As I neared the edge of the trees, I sensed that I was not alone. It was dark out, but my enhanced vision allowed me to see better than any animal with night vision.

Stopping just by the edge of the trees, I saw a lone figure standing at the edge of the cliff. I scented the air, but was unable to pick up anything, which was highly unusual as not only could I smell everything around me for at least a mile, I was also standing downwind from the figure. Not a single scent came to me that could place whoever that was on the edge. I heard a heartbeat; it was faint though, so I thought I may have intruded on someone's last moments. Not one to meddle in anyone's business, especially in my current state of mind, I took a step back to leave.

"Stay as you are vampire."

As with the last time I heard that command, my body straightened to its full height and I waited in silence. This time I was able to see who was giving the command, but she still had her back turned to me. The scent of jasmine hit me as well as a wave of sorrow.

"Who are you?" I asked.

The figure slumped forward. "Someone who has been waiting a long time for you, but I don't think you are ready yet."

I sensed her frustration and could hear it in her soft voice. The more she talked the more at peace I felt.

"Ready for what?" I wanted, no needed to keep her talking. "Why are you waiting for me?"

She sighed and the frustration doubled in strength. "As you are not ready, I cannot answer your questions. I just really wish you would hurry the hell up, Major."

She was still talking quietly, but the fierceness of her words was made quite clear.

"I am doing the best that I can, ma'am, under the circumstances." I figured a little bit of my southern charm might help alleviate some of her frustration. I was rewarded with a chuckle.

"Major, you cannot charm me." She sighed. "I can turn the tables on you though, cowboy."

A chill ran down my spine as the southern accent rolled off of her tongue. I never knew before how much I missed hearing it until just then. "Who are you?"

"Once you are ready, cowboy, you will know who I am. Until then, I must leave you again. I am never far from you as I can no longer stay away. I may be forced to do things you will not like to be close to you, but I can only hope you will forgive me." She took a step closer to the edge of the cliff and raised her face to the sky just as the moon slipped out from behind a cloud.

I gasped. What I had taken for a small girl was shown to me by the moonlight to be a tall woman with midnight black hair. Even with her back to me I could tell that she would be the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. "Are you leaving me?"

She turned her head enough to peek at me out of the corner of her eye, her face still hidden by her hair. "For a short while. I will be back after I gather my energy again."

I was saddened that she had to leave, I couldn't explain it, but I didn't want her to go. I had a feeling that if I wasn't being held in whatever power she had, I would be on my knees begging. That was not something that I did, but I didn't want her to leave me again. "Please don't go."

"Oh, Major, I can feel your emotions as if they were my own. I want to be able to do as you ask, but alas, I cannot. You are not ready." She took a deep breath and let it out. "I can do one thing and that is only if you promise to do as you are told."

I nodded even though I knew she wasn't looking at me. "Anything."

I watched her straighten her shoulders and a sense of resolve floated over to me. "Alright, if you deviate from what I tell you, then it will be decades before I can come back. Will you promise to do exactly as you are told?"

"If it is within my power to do so, then yes, I am yours to command."

"Ever the good soldier." She chuckled. "Alright, I need you to be still, do not move a muscle and above all else, you must keep your eyes closed."

I didn't understand the request, but I would do anything to keep her here. Taking one last moment to memorize what I could see, I closed my eyes. "As you command."

I listened for her to move, but was unable to hear anything other than the sounds of nature. I would have thought she had left if I wasn't able to still smell the jasmine of her scent. I felt a soft breeze on my face and fought the urge to turn into it.

"Maybe this will help to spur you on to be ready faster. I can tell how hard it is for you to be still and yet you have no idea how hard it is for me not to touch you." She spoke softly and another accent was making itself known, it was an older accent, one that wasn't heard any longer and I couldn't easily place it. "I must go before I do something I know I will regret. Remember, I am never far from you."

I stood still as another breeze coated my face. Taking a deep breath, I relished in the smell of jasmine and the spice that I had yet to place.

"I am leaving now. Go back to your coven. You will be ready for me soon." She sighed and sent a wave of sorrow and acceptance my way. "I release you from my hold."

I stood there, in a relaxed stance, waiting, hoping that she would speak again. I wasn't quite sure, but I needed to hear her voice again, I needed her to be near me. After waiting and not hearing anything, I cautiously opened my eyes to find her gone. Looking around I couldn't see her anywhere and I couldn't sense her either. With a sigh I made to turn around when movement caught my eye. I watched as a feather floated down and landed on the ground in front of me. Leaning over, I smiled as I brought the feather to my nose and took in the sweet smell of jasmine and some other spice that I still couldn't place.

Twirling the feather in my fingers, I headed back towards the house knowing that I had a lot of thinking to do. Not knowing what I needed to do to be ready for whatever this nameless woman needed from me was very aggravating, almost as much as not having a name to put with the voice. Looking down at the feather as I added it to its two mates, I decided that I was going to give her a name as I refused to keep thinking of her as the nameless woman. Closing the book, I slid it back into its place as I sighed, "Raven."

**AN – What did you guys think? Bella is with Edward and Jasper had another run in with his mystery stalker/friend. What do you think this Raven chick wants with Jasper? As always, reviews are my friend and your thoughts are always helpful.**

**Don't forget there is the FB page for updates and discussions. Just search for Bella &amp; Jasper – Love Under a Blood Moon and you should be able to find it easily. It will be the hub for all Twilight fanfic discussions as I have Darkness as well as one shots that are in the works. If you aren't reading Darkness…I highly recommend it, lol, but I may be a bit biased.**


	4. Baseball

**AN – So we have a name for our mysterious woman and maybe she is dropping hints for our frustrated Major. Let's read and find out, you've been waiting so givin' ya a short AN…Enjoy!**

Chapter 4

**JPOV**

The weeks passed by without much issue, we went to school, dealt with the hormonal teenagers and came home. Bella hung around more and more, but we never seemed to be in the same room together and I couldn't quite figure out why. It almost seemed like someone was trying to keep us away from each other, which made no sense. She was Edward's girlfriend or pet and I was just his brother that no one trusted completely around humans. That always stung my pride as I was the one who led a newborn army for a century. It was my job to turn and train the newborns. I personally believed that only Carlisle rivaled my level of control over my bloodlust.

I did notice as the time went on that Bella had amazing control over her emotions. Not once did I catch her feeling anything other than happiness and that was only when I was allowed to be in the same room with her. If we were in different parts of the house, I felt nothing from her. It was almost like if I couldn't see her I couldn't sense her. I tried to not let it bother me, but the more I thought about it the more frustrated I became with the whole situation. Everyone else seemed to enjoy her company, other than Rose that is, while I was somehow always left out.

A month before the holidays started, Edward came home from Bella's and told us that he was going to bring her to the baseball game. I was astounded that he would even think to bring her but I didn't react to the idiotic notion as no one wanted my opinion anyway. By this time I had seriously started contemplating leaving the Cullens and going to find my brother, Peter, and his wife. They at least never treated me like I was just there taking up space. So knowing that I was going to be around Bella that afternoon, I left for a quick hunt to make everyone else feel better. I stopped fighting them about their lack of faith a long time ago. Somehow they think that Bella will get me to do what a school full of teenagers has yet to do.

Running, I scented the area and found a trail leading off towards the cliff. The scent that I had picked up was not something I was expecting, but I followed it anyways. Trying to keep my hopes at bay, I darted out to the middle of the clearing by the cliff and quickly scanned the area. Taking a deep breath, I was able to faintly detect jasmine and I could only growl at having missed her. I moved to the edge of the cliff and looked out over the water, watching the birds flying and diving for their food.

"Oh, Raven." I sighed as I sat down. Suddenly I didn't feel like hunting, I didn't feel like anything to be honest.

"Depression does not suit you, vampire."

I stiffened as I heard her voice. I didn't bother turning around as I knew she would just tell me that I wasn't ready and to stay as I was. I snorted to myself as I realized she had me trained and we haven't even technically met yet.

She chuckled. "You are learning, vampire. I had hoped that you would be ready by now, but you are not quite there yet. Although I am never far from you, I had to talk to you, try to help you through this mood of yours."

I sighed; I really hated being told I wasn't ready yet. This secrecy thing was really wearing on me. "Can you at least tell me your name?"

A wave of mischief floated over me. "I would rather not just yet as you are not ready, but then again, I have grown rather fond of the name you have given me in its place. It's very fitting."

I rolled my eyes. She was almost as cryptic as Alice was and that was saying something. "So you want me to keep calling you Raven?"

"Yes. It is fitting as you have seen by my keepsakes that I have given you. If I had to choose a bird to be my favorite then I would choose the raven so I am honored to be called such. But I will only allow you to call me that, vampire."

I could hear the laughter in her voice. "Why do you always call me that? I have a name you know."

"I know you have a name, vampire, but I guess it does not feel right to call you that until we officially meet. As I mentioned before, I have known you since before you were turned. I was there beside you as you went through all of your stages in your life; I even learned how to ride a horse because you made it look like so much fun." She paused to laugh to herself. "That was a funny day, let me tell you. That horse and I had a big long talk about why he should let me on his back."

I fought the urge to turn around and stare at her. "You talked to the horse?"

"Oh." I could feel her embarrassment. "I shouldn't have said that. Let's forget that and move on shall we?"

I sighed and looked out over the water again. "When will I get to look at you? To know who has supposedly been with me my whole life?"

She sighed. "Soon, my cowboy, I hope. This all rests on your shoulders unfortunately and I am bound by strict laws. Talking to you like this could cause some serious problems for me. I do not want to risk being pulled away from you, so we have to do this as close to by the book as possible."

"Can I at least ask for a hint or something? I'm tired of this waiting and I'm tired of…just everything. I need something to look forward to or I don't know how much longer I can deal with the lack of faith my family has in me." I closed my eyes and felt a gentle caress across my shoulders.

"Oh my sad sad vampire. I cannot stand to see you this way. I know how you feel with your family as mine treated me that way too. A family that does not have faith in all of its members is not a true family to that one person. That is not something that I can intervene with at this time, but I can tell you that I have faith in you and so do your brother and sister. Know that even if you can't see me I am never far from you. Take comfort in that and just be you. Your family will see you for the wonderful man that you are, but know that I already do."

I still had my eyes closed and I felt a light kiss on the top of my head causing me to sigh. "Don't wait so long to speak to me next time, Raven."

"Hopefully, vampire, next time we shall meet face to face."

"I won't let it be any other way." I replied, determination flooding me. I looked out to the birds flying over the water and knew that I would have another feather to take back with me. I sat there for a while, giving her time to leave and myself time to gather my thoughts. I needed to figure out what I was supposed to be ready for and what I had to do to get ready.

I stood from my spot on the edge of the cliff and looked behind me, sure enough; on a low hanging branch at the edge of the clearing was a black feather. Grabbing it as I made my way back to the house, I tried to come up with an answer as to who I was dealing with. There were a few factors that I had gleaned from the few talks we had shared. I knew that she was older than me; she had to be if she had been there when I was a child. I knew that she was here for me for some reason and based off of the talks it didn't seem as if it was something bad. I knew that she comes from a family like mine, where she was not trusted to act accordingly, however that might be for her. I knew that she has an affinity for ravens, which is probably why she leaves their feathers behind for me.

I thought about asking Alice to peak into my future and see what was in store, but that doesn't always work as a decision has to be made for it to work. Add to that, do I really want Alice to know about Raven? With her knowing, do I want Edward to know? Right now I didn't want anyone to know about her. She was mine. She did also tell me that I shouldn't talk to anyone about our meetings and even if she hadn't requested that, I would have done it anyway. My family already doesn't have faith in me and if I start talking about some strange woman that won't let me look at her and talks about how she has watched me my whole life, yeah, they would probably think that I was the first ever vampire to go insane.

Taking a deep breath, I knew I needed to gather my thoughts as I headed back into the house. Darting up to my study, I added the feather to the growing collection and changed into a pair of warn jeans, my trade mark long sleeved baseball tee and a ball cap. I was ready to go play ball. Heading back downstairs I vaulted over the railing on the last part to land in the living room. Right in front of Bella. Her gasp was probably heard throughout the whole house.

I smiled, I couldn't help it. This was the first time that we had been this close and it was nice to be around her. She seemed to help calm my emotions. "I'm sorry, Bella. Didn't mean to startle you. I'm just excited to go play some ball."

She ducked her head as she stepped back. "I can understand your excitement."

If I didn't have my vampiric hearing, I would have missed her response. That was one thing that never made sense to me, she was so soft spoken that you had to be a vampire to hear her. I shook my head turning away from her. I knew I would be ousted from the room soon enough, no reason to make the family actually do it. I turned before I left the room. "Did you bring a rain coat?"

Bella briefly lifted her head and shrugged. "Didn't think to grab one."

"Silly human." I sighed and darted up to my room. From the lack of sounds in the house the girls had already headed out and it was just Bella, Edward and me here. Going into my room, I grabbed my raincoat and darted back downstairs, careful to slowly enter the room this time. "Here, you can wear mine as I bet Edward's wouldn't fit at all."

She caught the coat after I tossed it. Looking it over, she pulled it over her head and readjusted her ball cap as it had been knocked aside. Tucking her hands into the front pocket, she smiled up at me. "Thank you, Jasper."

"My pleasure, ma'am." I tipped my hat at her, letting my southern drawl come out. "Edward, hurry your ass up or I'm leaving you two behind."

I heard him sigh up in his room before he responded. "Thank you for letting her use your coat, I should have thought ahead."

I knew she hadn't heard him and I grimaced as he started his martyr act. "That's what brothers are for right?"

Bella stared at me, she had to know that we were talking, but she just couldn't hear it. She let out a huff. "Stop being so melodramatic, Edward, or I will leave you behind."

I couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled out of me. "Well, who knew that Bella could be spunky?"

She raised an eyebrow at me before she quickly ducked her head down, throwing off waves of mirth and happiness. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me, cowboy."

I reeled as her words wrapped around my senses. I understood why she would call me that, but up until then only one other had done that. Suddenly I wanted to go hunt down my mysterious woman and not play baseball, but I was suddenly hit with a wave of worry. Looking over at Bella I tasted her emotions and she was the source of the worry. Before I could ask her about it, Edward bounded down the stairs and moved to her side.

"Are we all ready to go?" He asked, looking over at me.

I nodded and followed them out to Emmett's jeep. Edward got Bella all hooked up in the passenger seat before moving over to the driver's side. I was undecided if I wanted to run or ride along. I was still standing there, undecided when Bella opened her door.

"Jasper, get in so we can go."

Shocked out of my indecision, I opened the back hatch and slipped inside. Edward glanced at me in the review mirror and I shrugged, not knowing how to answer his silent question. I had no idea what was up with me anymore. Leaning my head back as Edward drove us to the field, I closed my eyes and just let my mind wander to pointless thoughts since Edward loved to pick through my brain.

"Jasper?"

To say I was shocked that she was addressing me again would be just the tip of the iceberg of emotions I was feeling. I answered without opening my eyes. "Yes, Bella?"

"I…" She paused, sending off waves of embarrassment.

"You can ask me anything." I hoped saying that would make her more comfortable.

"Well, I was curious as to why you always wore long sleeves even in the summer and Edward told me I had to ask you." She whispered.

I could feel her blush from back here as the heat rose in her cheeks. I knew that she was curious about how all of us ended up in this life and I had expected Edward to tell her about everyone, save her from having to ask us all individually. I guess out of everyone, Rose and I would be the hardest lives to tell and I understood why he would leave it to us to explain as ours were both more gruesome. I needed to know what she already knew though. "Has Edward told you any of my background?"

"Only that you had a very rough start to this life that left you scarred. I can imagine how anyone not choosing this life would be mentally or emotionally scarred." She answered compassion clear in her voice.

"Well, I won't go into major detail right now as we are almost to the field. I will tell you that yes, I had a very rough start to this life and I have the scars you mentioned, but I also have physical scars." I pulled up the sleeve on my left arm and leaned forward, placing it up between the front seats so she could look. I chuckled as Edward made sure to keep his eyes averted.

Bella turned in her seat as she caught sight of my arm and gasped, her human eyes traveling up and down my arm, taking in the multitude of crescent shaped scars. Slowly she reached out to touch my arm, stopping just short of making contact before looking to Edward. At his nod she turned to me, "May I?"

I could only nod; her compassion and sorrow over just those few scars had me floored. Everyone else that had seen them had cringed away in fear or looked away in disgust like Edward did. When I was with Alice it was either lights out or I had to wear a shirt so she didn't have to see the scars. I closed my eyes as I felt the first light touch of her fingers as she traced over a few of the scars.

"What made these?" She whispered.

I sighed and pulled my arm back, rolling down the sleeve to hide my skin yet again. "I was brought into this life in a time of war. I was turned so that I could train newborn armies and in the process I had to break up fights or take on the more dominant newborns to make sure they all stayed in line. I am covered in those scars, Bella. They are a sign to other vampires to stay away. They cause fear and/or disgust. Did you see Edward's reaction?"

"Yes, I just thought it was because he felt bad that you had them." Bella turned to look out her window, a frown on her face. After a few moments of thought, she turned back to look at me. "They all react that way to your scars don't they?"

"All of them."

She sighed and turned to look back out the windshield as Edward stopped the jeep. Immediately she started working on the five point harness that Edward had snapped her into earlier and had it all undone by the time Edward was at her door, opening it to help her out.

I climbed out the back as I was hit by a wave of sorrow coming at me from Bella. I could tell that she felt bad over how my family treated me and it made me feel a little better knowing that someone cared. Shaking my head clear of the depressing thoughts, I took off into the clearing and pounced on Emmett's back, taking him to the ground.

"Ugh…get off me you…you…damn sneaky bastard!" Emmett growled into the dirt.

Laughing, I leapt from his back and turned to watch him stand, brushing the dirt from his clothes. "If you would pay better attention, I wouldn't be so sneaky."

Emmett snarled and darted after me, starting to chase me around the field. I kept dodging him until Alice called us over to go over the teams.

"Now, we are going to be doing this a bit differently since Bella is here. She is going to help Esme out at home plate. The first team batting will be Carlisle's which will include Jasper and Rose. I will be pitching for my team with Edward and Emmett. Any questions?"

I sauntered over and picked up the bat. "I'll bat first, pixie."

She laughed and moved out to the mound in the middle, tossing a ball in the air. "I hope you're ready, Jazz. I don't see this as going in your favor."

"Come now, pixie, give me your best pitch and we'll see just how wrong you are." I took my position over home plate, preparing for her fast pitch. As she readied her throw, I was already swinging the bat and the ball connected solidly. Dropping the bat, I was already at second base when I saw Edward shoot out into the surrounding woods to go fetch the ball. He was just coming out of the woods and throwing the ball when I slid into home plate. I was paying so much attention to Edward that I completely misjudged my angle and slid into Bella, knocking her legs out from under her.

"Safe." Esme called as she laughed at the mess before her.

I reached up as Bella landed on me with a gasp and I caught her shoulders, stopping her from slamming into my stone body. Pushing up on her shoulders, I passed her to Esme who steadied her on her feet. "Sorry, Bella."

She looked down at me and offered her hand to help me up, before pulling it back with a laugh. "Guess that wouldn't have worked huh?"

Jumping to my feet I flicked her hat back so that it was dangling off the back of her head, hooked on her pony tail. "Would have pulled you right back down."

The next hour was spent much the same way, laughter peeling out as we collided with one another trying to catch the ball or at someone dodging being tagged with the ball to make it to home plate. It was a fairly even matched game, as usual, and I was up to bat again when Alice called a halt to the game.

"Stop." Everyone turned to look at Alice. "Everyone needs to surround Bella. I thought they wouldn't hear our game, but they changed course."

Edward growled low as he saw what Alice was seeing. "Three nomads. They heard the game and are on their way here to join in."

I glared at Alice, she should have known better than to allow us to bring Bella out here if there was any threat. Instead of voicing my annoyance, I went and placed myself in front of Bella as Edward stood to her right side and Emmett stood on her left. Carlisle stood in front of me with the girls standing behind us, forming a circle around our little human. I could feel her worry, but there was also a thread of acceptance. I wasn't given time to try to understand her emotions as my attention was drawn to the other side of the field.

Three vampires broke through the trees and stopped halfway across the field. They stood there staring at us before the one in front spoke.

"Hello. My name is Laurent, this is Victoria and James." He gestured as he provided their names. "We were just passing through and heard your game. We wanted to know if you had room for more players."

Carlisle stepped forward as I tested the emotions. I caught worry and caution coming from behind me and Bella's little emotional cocktail. Reaching forward, I picked up on Carlisle's determination to protect his family. In front of him I could sense curiosity, amusement and indifference. They did not show any threatening signs but I never did trust other vampires, especially nomads.

"Actually we were just finishing up our game. Maybe another time?" Carlisle smiled at them, softening the rejection. "My name is Carlisle and this is my family."

I did not miss the annoyance that flowed through them as Carlisle did not introduce us individually to the nomads and that caused me to wonder exactly what they wanted. As I began to study them more intently I noticed James looking closely into the group behind me, specifically right over my shoulder. Just as I noticed he was staring at Bella's hat covered head, I felt a breeze pick up from behind me, bringing Bella's scent across my nose and to the nomads in front of us.

James took in a deep breath and his eyes almost rolled back before focusing on Bella again. Taking a step forward he smiled at us. "You brought a snack."

I heard hisses and growls behind us as we all sunk into defensive crouches, even Carlisle started to copy our posture before forcing himself to stand up straight.

"She is a part of my family. We live here and do not feed on humans." Carlisle gestured to the general area surrounding us. "We maintain a home here and kindly request that you leave the area before feeding as we do not need to draw attention to ourselves. I'm sure you understand."

Laurent stepped forward, placing a hand on James' shoulder. "Of course, our apologies. We meant no offense."

I watched as a sort of silent communication passed between James and Laurent before James straightened and moved back to stand next to Victoria, slinging an arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah, we aren't used to our kind keeping pets and not sharing." James laughed.

I felt Edward tense behind me so James must have been having some rather nasty thoughts floating through his mind. I focused on James and didn't sense anything that immediately caused me to worry until he looked over my shoulder again. That is when I felt his joy and determination double and I knew we had a problem on our hands.

Laurent stepped back by James. "As you are no longer playing, I believe we shall take our leave. I am suddenly feeling a bit peckish and I'm not overly fond of that feeling. We will wait until we are a few towns away so as to keep any backlash from falling on your coven."

"Thank you." Carlisle smiled at them as he stepped back to stand next to me.

I straightened out of my crouch as they disappeared into the trees. Turning back, I looked to Alice before glancing at Edward. He had pulled Bella into his arms and was holding her tightly. Fear was coming off of him in waves, but she was oddly complacent. She caught me looking at her and quickly averted her gaze as her emotions became too dull for me to read. Still baffled over how she was able to block me from her emotions, I walked over to Alice.

"Hey, pixie, are they really gone?"

She looked up at me before her eyes took on that faraway look when she is searching for visions. She allowed a small smile to play across her face before she responded. "Yes, they are gone, but not for long."

"We need to get her out of here." Edward snapped as he had seen whatever it was that Alice saw. "James has fixated on Bella."

I looked over at him and was hit by his fear and anger. "What did you see Edward?"

He looked me in the eyes as he shook his head. "Just know that he is a hunter and he has decided that Bella is his next prey. He will not give up until he gets her."

**AN – Well hell, I bet y'all hoped the nomads wouldn't make an appearance, but I'm sorry to disappoint. There were just some things that deserved tweaking and this is where said tweaking happened…and will happen again as I love to tweak. Ok, tweak stories people, come on ;-) So, some things are the same and some are different, what did y'all think? Let me know as we authors live on reviews…and food of course!**

**Don't forget there is the FB page for updates and discussions. Just search for Bella &amp; Jasper – Love Under a Blood Moon and you should be able to find it easily. It will be the hub for all Twilight fanfic discussions as I have Darkness as well as one shots that are in the works. If you aren't reading Darkness…I highly recommend it, lol, but I may be a bit biased.**


	5. Kidnapped

**AN – Sorry it has taken longer than planned to get this chapter up. So as a start to the mollification, short AN…on to the chapter…Enjoy!**

Chapter 5

**JPOV **

Bella didn't react at first and as I watched her it was like she almost had to remind herself to act scared. She was still blocking me from her emotions but even to my ears her gasp and look of fear looked fake. Why wasn't she afraid of James? I added that to the long list of questions I had about my family's human member. She was too odd to be a normal human. Putting those thoughts far from my mind, I focused on the problem at hand. I was about to speak when Alice beat me to it.

"We need to protect Bella from James." She looked around at the family. "Edward, take her home so she can pack a bag and leave a note for her father. I will keep an eye on James and will let you know if he makes up his mind about when he is coming after her, but I can promise it will be before the weekend is over. If needed, I can always call Charlie and ask if Bella can spend the weekend with me."

We all stood there, staring at her in shock. She wasn't normally the one to give orders and it took us a few seconds to catch up to what she had said. Edward nodded and threw Bella on his back before running off for the jeep. The rest of us took off running back to the house. I was lost in my thoughts as we came upon the house and saw that Bella's truck was gone. Edward must have recklessly drove the jeep home to beat us here and leave in that beat up old piece of scrap metal.

I was just about to walk into the house when I heard a loud metallic crunch coming from the highway and it was quickly followed by an anguished cry. Without thinking, I took off towards the sounds, closely followed by the family. I stopped when I smelled the blood; thankfully there wasn't a lot of it which was shocking when I looked at what was left of the truck. It was on its side with the driver's side door completely pushed inwards. I ran over to the truck and jumped up to look down through the driver's side doorway.

There was blood on the passenger door but no one was in the truck. I noticed that the windshield had been busted outwards and a faint trail of blood led away from the crash site. I fell back on my military training as I began to follow the trail, knowing that I would have to fight off the bloodlust as well as any attackers. There was no doubt in my mind that James was behind this and I needed to assess the situation before I grilled Alice about how she could have missed this happening.

The trail led about two hundred yards into the woods on the other side of the highway. Suddenly it stopped and I couldn't tell why as I found no one. Reaching out with my senses, I could faintly pick up a sense of anguish coming from my left so I took off in that direction, knowing that it had to be Edward that the feelings were coming from. I knew that the family would follow me once they were done with the shock of the scene I left behind.

Edward jumped when I burst from the trees behind him and I immediately put my hands up as I surveyed the area. Edward was alone. I could not hear a heartbeat anywhere near us nor could I sense another vampire.

"What happened?" I growled out, I tried to reign in my anger, but my instincts were screaming at me to teach this impudent vampire a valuable lesson, one where he learned not to let anyone take what was his.

"It was James and Victoria. They came at us just as we were turning onto the highway. Thankfully I was driving so I took the brunt of the impact from Victoria running into the side of the truck. The force threw us across the highway and tilted the truck so it landed on its side. Bella…I landed on her and she cut herself on some of the broken glass from her window. I was so worried about her that I didn't register the smell of her blood. I think I broke her arm and cracked a rib or two when I landed on her. I didn't mean…it wasn't supposed to happen like that."

I stood there staring at him, trying to keep calm as he rambled on about what happened. With a sigh I cut him off. "You can play the martyr later. Right now I need to know what happened so I can get Isabella back."

He jerked at the tone of my voice and grimaced at my use of her full name. Nodding, he ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath. "You're right, Jasper. I pulled her out of the truck and was getting ready to run back to the house when Victoria hit me from behind, sending Bella flying from my arms. James caught her and grinned at me. In my distraction, Victoria got me pinned to a tree and I watched as James ran off with Bella."

Before I could yell at him for his stupidity, Carlisle and the rest of the family showed up. Esme went to Edward and wrapped him in her arms in a motherly hug. Emmett was by my side glaring at Edward which wasn't shocking as Emmett had taken to Bella like a big brother to a little sister. I knew if push came to shove, Emmett would back me up in a fight to get her back. Alice and Rose stayed back, neither one enjoying the anger I was sure I was projecting. I couldn't understand the level of my anger, but I knew to use it to my advantage.

Carlisle turned to me. "Now, Jasper, I understand your anger, but let's put Bella's safety first. I know that you are upset over what happened and you can deal with that once we get her back safely. You are the one with the experience here, tell us what to do."

I glanced at Carlisle in shock for only a second before I took control. "Edward, which way did they go with Bella?"

He lifted his head from Esme's shoulder. "They went towards town."

"Fuck." I growled and began to pace as I thought. "That is going to make it harder on us when we find them, but will also make it harder on them to move without being seen by the humans. Ok, we are going to split up and hopefully we can cut them off before they hurt anyone or make it to La Push."

Everyone stood still, waiting for my directions. I forgot how much I enjoyed the thrill of leading and the tactical thinking. "We are going to split into three groups. Rose and Alice, I want you to go East and swing back to close in with us at the boundary line. Carlisle, you take Esme and do the same except go to the West. Emmett, you will be with me and Edward and we will follow the trail that has been left for us. I don't know how this is going to play out so I need everyone to be prepared for any outcome. Edward this applies to you the most as James may decide to end her life quickly or prolong her agony just to torture you. Can you handle this?"

We all watched as he gathered his thoughts with a few grimaces most likely caused by thoughts he overheard. Meeting my eyes I saw his resolve. "It is my fault that she is in this mess so I will do everything possible to rectify the situation."

"Alright, everyone make sure your phones are on vibrate and contact the other groups if you come across anything and I do mean anything that looks out of place. I am hoping that even though James is the hunter, he will be too preoccupied with Bella to make sure that Victoria isn't leaving a trail for us." I surveyed their emotions and everyone was worried, but more importantly they were all resolved and determined to get her back. "Move out."

Emmett fell in line just behind me on my right and Edward mirrored him on my left. I felt pride in my brothers that they naturally knew how to line up. I scanned the area as we moved, searching for any signs of emotions or blood. From the amount at the crash I would estimate that Bella had more internal injuries and less cuts so following a blood trail was not one that I was actively hoping for. At least not until we had moved about a mile closer to town.

I stopped as I was hit in the face with the scent of fresh blood and it took me less than a second to know that it was Bella's. Running to the source of the scent, I saw that her blood had been smeared on the trunk of a tree. That confused me as I knew that James wouldn't be sloppy enough to bump her into a tree. I was trying to figure it out when Emmett brought me from my thoughts.

"My lil sis is one smart cookie." His voice was hushed but radiated pride.

Edward looked at him, annoyance coming off him in waves. "What are you talking about, Em?"

He looked over at me like I should have figured it out. "Well, if she was barely bleeding at the crash site and we all know that James wouldn't hurt her like that until he had her stashed somewhere, Bella must have known that the best way for us to follow her is by a blood trail."

I groaned. Emmett was correct; I should have caught on much quicker. "She's playing a dangerous game, but you're right, Emmett. She must have cut her hand and is smearing it on the trees as they go. I don't get why he didn't just finish her at the truck. Why is he going to this amount of trouble just to hole up somewhere and drain her?"

Edward flinched at my bluntness. "He thinks she is special."

I jerked my gaze up to meet his. "What are you talking about?"

"Back at the truck, when he caught her he was about to bite her when he seemed to notice something. He looked her over and growled. His exact words were…'Well, I knew you smelled divine, but you are altogether something special and should not be dealt with so quickly. Oh, this is going to be fun.' He turned to me after that and told me he was going to have fun with my human and he said that like I should have already been doing something with her." He shook his head and his sorrow filled the air around us.

"Edward, pull yourself together. If he thinks she is special that works to our advantage. He won't rush into draining her and will give us time to rescue her." I reached out with my senses and caught something ahead of us. "Let's get moving again."

I darted off in the direction the blood took us. I kept my senses alert so that I wouldn't walk into anything that we weren't prepared for. The closer we got to town the more concentrated the smell of Bella's blood became. If I hadn't been so focused on saving her, I would have been fighting my bloodlust as even I could admit that the smell was mouthwatering. Suddenly I heard something ahead of us and I held up my hand, stopping us.

Emmett cocked his head to the side, listening. "I can hear a faint heartbeat."

I nodded; I had picked up on that too. Trying to discern if anyone was closer to us, I sent out my senses and was suddenly hit with a wave of pain and I just barely kept myself from falling to my knees. Grasping my head, I focused on blocking the pain so that I could think.

Edward turned to me in fear and grabbed my shoulder. "What's wrong, brother?"

"I don't know what he has done to her, but I can feel her pain. She is sending it out in waves like…" I drew in my breath as I realized what she was doing. "She's sending it out to me so that I can find her. Damn, this is the most painful way to track, but follow me."

Edward and Emmett both fell in line behind me as I followed the path laid out before me, the path of pain. The closer I got the more intense it became. I focused on not stumbling as the pain became intense. There was no way that she could actually be feeling that much pain; somehow she must be able to amplify it. I stopped as the pain was suddenly cut off and I was suddenly dizzy from the loss of all feeling from her. Before I could start to panic I felt a wave of acceptance come from her.

"Why did you stop?"

I turned to look at Edward. "She cut off her emotions again. I can't feel her anymore."

He growled and began to pace. Waves of worry and anger were flowing off of him and hitting me with the force of a train. I needed to think so I sent him some calm, hoping to get him to be still. She knew we would find her, we wouldn't be able to miss the trail she left for us, but maybe she thought we wouldn't get to her in time? Is that why she felt that acceptance and no other emotions? I shook my head, that was not what I needed to focus on. Closing my eyes, I listened and scented the air, taking in my surroundings.

"Ok, it looks like they are directly ahead of us and not too far." I looked at my brothers before continuing. "I don't know what we will be walking in on, so it might be best to hold your breath the closer we get. We don't need to save her from James just to finish the job ourselves."

Edward growled while Emmett grimaced at the thought.

Without waiting for their input, I started moving forward again, making sure to be a quiet as possible. If James was as focused on Bella as I thought, he would be distracted enough for us to sneak up on him. Victoria could be a problem though. I had felt her jealousy of James' interest in Bella at the field which means that she could go either way, protecting what her mate wants or trying to take back her mate's attention. Either way, I had to plan on taking them both out in order to make sure that Bella was kept alive and safe.

A spike of fear hit me, but it didn't come from Bella. The fear came from James and that had me confused. What could have happened or been said that would have scared James? I moved forward and caught site of movement in front of me. I stopped and my brothers paused behind me. Within a second I had a plan. I sent my thoughts to Edward, knowing he would fill Emmett in on the plan and I began to move forward.

Reaching out with my senses, I could only sense James and Bella ahead of us. There was no sign of Victoria anywhere around so I thought that she might have left so she wouldn't have to witness what James had planned to do to Bella. A spike of pain from Bella had me charging forward before I could think and I stopped long enough to assess the situation. James was standing with one foot pushing down on Bella's leg and she was lying on the ground, holding her right arm against her side. I smelled blood, fresh blood. He must have hurt her again. I growled low in my chest.

James' head snapped up and a mixture of relief and fear washed over me from him. Confusion encompassed me as I could not fathom why he would feel relief at seeing me, the fear I understood as I had rolled my sleeves up as I closed in on them so he could see my scars. He was too close to her still and I wanted him as far away from her as possible. I snarled at him in warning.

He started laughing and put all of his weight on his foot that was pushing on Bella's leg. What happened next was a blur, even for me. I heard the snap of bone as James broke her leg; I felt her pain and heard her scream at the same time as James went flying backwards as he was hit by two hundred plus pounds of flying Emmett and Edward. Seeing that James was being taken care of by my brothers, I dashed forward to Bella's side.

**AN –So what did you guys think? As I said previously, there were some story lines that I liked in the original and I just wanted to tweak them a bit. What did you think of how Bella led them to where she was taken? Tricksie little human ain't she? LOL. I have to say I like this Bella and she is definitely fun to write. So far this story has been planned as just being in Jasper's pov, but it might work to put a bit from someone else. What do you guys think? Also, as always, please review. I can never get enough feedback. Thanks!**

**Don't forget there is the FB page for updates and discussions. Just search for Bella &amp; Jasper – Love Under a Blood Moon and you should be able to find it easily. It will be the hub for all Twilight fanfic discussions as I have Darkness as well as one shots that are in the works. If you aren't reading Darkness…I highly recommend it, lol, but I may be a bit biased.**


	6. Rescued

**AN – RL has finally calmed down and I'm able to update a bit more often. I know I have left you guys on a clifie with this one and I believe it's been long enough. So here is the next chapter and enjoy!**

Chapter 6

**JPOV**

"Bella?" I asked, laying my hand on her cheek trying to get her attention. I drew away some of her pain so that she could respond.

"Jasper?" She whispered, her voice laced with pain.

"Yes, darlin', it's me. Let me check your injuries and then I will get you back to Carlisle. He will get you all fixed up in no time." I leaned forward and started to pull my hand back but her whimper of pain made me pause. "Let me do this and then I will take as much of the pain from you as I can, ok?"

She nodded and clenched her jaw shut against the return of the pain. I regretted having to do that to her, but I needed my full focus on her injuries so that no other mishaps happened. Looking over her leg I saw that the bone was broken, but from the feel of it I didn't sense that the bone had broken through the skin. That seemed to be her most serious injury. I knew she was bleeding from somewhere, but I couldn't pin point it.

Looking at her, I noticed again how she was cradling her right arm to her. Gently, I reached out and took hold of her arm, drawing away some of her pain in the process. I didn't feel any broken bones but I sucked in my breath as I turned her arm palm up. In the center of her hand was a long gash, which was most likely what she had used to leave the trail for us to follow. I also noticed that there was a bite on her inner wrist at the same time her body convulsed.

"Fuck!" I looked up into her face and saw her staring at me. "Darlin', this is your choice. I can let the change happen or I can suck the venom out for you."

"No!" Edward yelled from his spot next to James. "Suck it out Jasper. She's not ready."

I waited for her to respond as this was her decision, not Edwards. "Darlin'?"

She grimaced. "Do as he says, Jasper."

I nodded reading her emotions. All I felt was trust and acceptance. Not taking my eyes from hers, I leaned over her arm and placed my mouth over the bite. I knew my eyes turned black with the first pull. Even with the taint of James' venom I could still taste the ambrosia that was Bella's blood. After a few pulls I sealed the wound as I could no longer taste any venom. I knew that I didn't take enough for my eyes to turn red, but I knew that they would no longer be the golden color. I would have to hunt later as I knew I was already going to have a lot of explaining to do when the family sees my eyes.

"Edward, Emmett, deal with James. I'm going to get Bella back to the house so Carlisle can address the rest of her wounds." I growled as I gave out the orders. A part of me wanted to be the one to destroy James for daring to hurt Bella, but as she was with Edward, it was his place, not mine. Looking back down at her, I saw that she had closed her eyes and it looked like she was concentrating on something.

"Bella?"

"Hmm?" She didn't open her eyes.

"I'm going to get you back to the house ok?" I asked as I pulled out my phone, quickly texting a message to Carlisle letting him know what happened.

"Alright, cowboy."

Again I reeled at her new name for me. I had never been close to her until today and suddenly I was rushing to her rescue and she was giving me a new nickname, well one that only one other has used before. I liked the sound of it falling from her lips, made me feel wanted. Was a first with this family.

"Alright, I will do my best to take as much pain as I can while I run us back, but I can't promise that the pain will go away entirely. Are you ready?"

"Yes." She sighed and tensed in preparation of the pain.

I leaned over her and placed my arm under her shoulders and my other under her knees, picking her up bridal style. "I'm going to lift the back of your shirt so I can have contact with your skin, that is the best way for me to draw some of the pain from you."

She nodded and reached behind her to lift her shirt for me. I placed my palm flat on her side and gritted my teeth as I pulled as much of her pain into me as I could. I still needed to be able to function enough to get us to the house. As I acclimated to the pain, I addressed my brothers again. "Once you are done with James, keep an eye out for Victoria. I know she will be around here somewhere and she will seek out revenge for killing James."

Not waiting for a response, I took off in the direction of our house. Keeping enough of my senses open to sense anyone close by, I focused the rest of my senses on Bella and taking her pain away from her. I was nearing the house when I felt a shift in Bella's emotions right as I heard her gasp in pain. Stopping, I stood still as the pain began to ebb away.

"My leg." She gasped out as another wave of pain hit her.

I kneeled down so that I could rest her in my lap as I looked at her leg. Gently running my hand over her leg I gasped. Pulling up the pant leg I saw the proof of what I had felt, but I didn't know how it was happening. "How?"

"What?"

I looked up at her, not having realized I spoke out loud. "Your leg was broken, but now it's healed."

Worry spiced the air as Bella looked at me and then down at her leg. Then she cut off her emotions again. "Please get me to Carlisle."

"Of course." I was being negligent of her pain in my confusion. Standing back up, I got us back to the house in a few minutes. Carlisle was on the front porch waiting for us.

"Bring her into my study, quickly." He darted up the stairs with me close on his heels.

I followed him into his study and placed her on the couch he had in the corner. "We found her being attacked by James. He broke her leg, he bit her wrist and she has a cut on her palm that she used to leave us a trail to follow her with."

Carlisle had already started examining her as I was telling him what happened. He looked at her legs and then back at me. "Her leg is not broken."

"I know. I promise it was when we left Edward and Emmett to come back to the house."

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Wait…did you say she was bit?"

"Yes, on her right wrist." I moved to the end of the couch and perched on the arm by her head. "At her request I sucked out the venom."

"You did?" Carlisle looked at me, shock and worry evident in his emotions. "Why didn't Edward do it?"

Trying not to lose my temper at the lack of faith my supposed father figure had in me, I tried to keep my tone calm. "Yes, I did it. Edward and Emmett were dealing with James. I wish you would have a little more faith in me, you know what I did for the first century of this life. I have better control than you all give me credit for."

"Oh, well, I am sorry that you feel that way, son." Carlisle glanced nervously from Bella's still form to my face. "Do we know how long it was between James biting her and you, umm, sucking out the venom?"

I snorted, he apologized and yet he still couldn't accept that I did it without draining the poor girl. "I am not sure exactly. I felt a huge wave of pain from her which drew me closer to her but she also very quickly blocked me from feeling her emotions. I would say no more than two minutes based on the pain I felt."

He shook his head as he looked over her body. "It doesn't make sense. If you got all of the venom out then she should not be healing the way she is. Even with the venom in her system she should not be healing like this."

I was about to respond when Bella spasmed on the couch and I reached down instinctively placing my cold skin on her cheeks trying to fill her with calm. At the touch of my hands she sighed and became still. "What is going on Carlisle? These are signs of the change but I got all of the venom out."

"I don't know Jasper. It might have been in her system long enough to start something. We will have to keep an eye on her to make sure that she will be alright." Carlisle sighed as he pulled out his phone, dialing quickly.

"Hello?"

"Good afternoon Chief Swan, this is Carlisle Cullen."

"Oh, hello Dr. Cullen. Is everything alright? Did my Bella get hurt?" Charlie's voice came across the line with a tinge of panic towards the end.

"No, everything is fine, Chief Swan. Please, call me Carlisle." He paused before continuing. "I am calling at the request of my daughter, Alice. She wanted to know if you would mind if Bella stayed the night. I believe there were plans of make overs and pillow fights."

I rolled my eyes as Carlisle tried to come across as a normal father of a normal teenage daughter. Although the thought of Bella in a pillow fight had me chuckling quietly.

"Please call me Charlie. I can't see my Bells being up for the make overs, but I know she can hold her own in a pillow fight." Charlie chuckled on the other end of the phone. "Tell Bella to behave and I said to have fun. Thank you for calling, Carlisle."

"I will relay the message, Charlie. Thank you for letting her stay, Alice will be overjoyed I'm sure. Have a good evening, chief."

A sigh was heard before he responded. "You too, doctor."

I smirked as Carlisle hung up his phone. "So now what?"

"Let's move her to Edward's room. I imagine she would be more comfortable in there than in my study." Carlisle stood up and left the study, leaving me to bring Bella with me.

I moved to the side of the couch and leaned down, placing my arms under her shoulders and her knees. Lifting her up, I saw a faint grimace grace her face. "I'm just moving you to Edward's room. You are safe and we will take care of you, Bella, I promise."

She sighed and turned her head into my chest as I walked down the hall. A warmth filled me at being needed and trusted. It had been too long since anyone had made me feel that way.

"I have the couch ready for her." Carlisle directed us over to the couch where he had placed a few pillows and grabbed a blanket for her in case she got cold.

Leaning over, I placed her on the couch and covered her with the blanket. Before I could move back, she reached out and grabbed my hand in hers, squeezing it before letting it go.

Carlisle looked over at me and back down at Bella after seeing the exchange. "Can you keep her comfortable until Edward gets back? I need to go do some research to see what we are dealing with."

"Of course, Carlisle. I will come help once Edward returns." I watched as he nodded and walked out of Edward's room and headed back to his study.

I sat on the end of the couch and watched her sleep for the next half hour only moving away to stare out the window when I heard the sound of my family returning to the house. I was lost in my thoughts when Edward came rushing into the room and fell to his knees next to Bella on the couch. I could feel his panic and worry for her.

"She is resting, brother." I said before he could ask without turning around. "Carlisle has cleared it with her father to stay here tonight. Stay with her, I need to go help Carlisle."

I was to the door before Edward called out to me.

"Jasper?"

I turned to look at him over my shoulder. "Yes?"

"Thank you." His eyes held so much emotion and from what I could feel, he meant it. My only problem with the feeling was that I knew he was thanking me for saving her from the change and not for saving her life. I nodded, not trusting my mouth to behave, and left to find Carlisle.

The next few days were spent in a flurry of research and trying to keep Edward from going into his next depressive state. He still had Bella, she still breathed and blushed any time Emmett made one of his sly comments and she was still oblivious to the fact that there was a time limit for their relationship.

I tried to distance myself from them as much as possible, throwing myself into the research to see if we could figure out how Bella had healed so quickly without venom in her system. Carlisle and I were both coming up empty handed and neither of us had shared our worry with Edward, both of us knowing that he would be unpredictable with that information. I think we did it more to save Bella's life than to save Edward's peace of mind.

**AN –So what did you guys think? Still some tweaking to the original storylines, but I like how it's turned out so far. You can't help but feel bad for Jasper and how his family regards his control. Well, I will do my best to get this updated more often, but I can only go as fast as the muses allow. Also, as always, please review. I can never get enough feedback. Thanks!**

**Don't forget there is the FB page for updates and discussions. Just search for Bella &amp; Jasper – Love Under a Blood Moon and you should be able to find it easily. It will be the hub for all Twilight fanfic discussions as I have Darkness as well as one shots that are in the works. If you aren't reading Darkness…I highly recommend it, lol, but I may be a bit biased.**


	7. Dancing

**AN – And here is another update. Still working along with the original Twilight path, but the tweaking is still happening and soon we will completely veer away. Until then, I give you the next tweaked chapter. Enjoy!**

Chapter 7

**JPOV**

Before I knew it, it was time for prom. Everyone was paired off and preparing to dance the night away. I had tried to keep from going, as I was single and really hadn't put any effort into mingling with the idiots I was forced to be around all day at school. I could barely tolerate them there, why would I want to put up with them outside of school when I could stay home and write or sketch? Which is exactly what I had planned on doing. I went to Seattle to get supplies for a few new sketches and was getting everything set up in my study when I was surrounded by my siblings.

Alice had claimed it was an intervention, but I knew it was just so that she could get her way. I shook my head at her already knowing I had lost the battle before it had ever begun and gave in. So here I stood, in our living room, dressed in a classic tux that Alice had picked for me. All of the guys were dressed by her of course, their ties and vests matching the colors of the girls' dresses. I opted for straight black since I was going stag.

We were all waiting for the girls and I decided to distance myself from the group so I was standing near the fireplace lost in thought. Over the past few months, I had spent most of my time researching what could have happened to Bella as well as trying to figure out who or what my mystery stalker was. I made sure to always hunt alone so that it would give her the opportunity to contact me again and after each hunt, I returned home feeling a little more dejected than the last time and that much more determined to figure out what I was dealing with.

I knew that I had promised that I would be ready the next time we met. The only problem is that I didn't know what I needed to do to be ready for her. I knew where I stood in this family, I knew where I stood with my brother and sister in Texas, but I had no idea where I stood with Raven. Just thinking of my nickname for her gave me a small warmth like she was close by, which I knew was not possible. She wanted me to keep my knowledge of her from my family and I have done that, so I knew she was not close by, well not that I would be able to sense at least. I had come to the conclusion that she had to be something supernatural, but not a vampire like me and definitely not a part of the mutts from La Push. If she was I wouldn't be able to stand her smell or to be around her for longer than necessary.

I searched through the legends and myths, but I had come up short. Witches I could understand existing as well as those crazy creatures that are part of the fae world. I mean if I exist why couldn't there be fairies or hobgoblins and so on. Right now I was willing to believe in anything as long as I was finally allowed to see her, all of her. I had a need to see her face and to know her name, to be able to hold a normal conversation where she didn't need to be so cryptic. I didn't honestly care what she was; I only wanted to know so I could learn what I needed to do to be ready for her.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I was completely unaware of the girls coming downstairs and the presence now standing right behind me. I was blissfully unaware until said presence decided I had ignored them long enough.

"Umm Jasper?"

Only my innate abilities kept me from actually reacting to the shock of having someone sneak up on me. Heightened senses usually make that quite impossible and yet this one little human managed to sneak up on me without even trying. Turning I arched an eyebrow. "Yes, Bella?"

She blushed at having my full attention on her, which I found quite amusing since she was the one who came to me. Ducking her head, I watched as her long brown hair fell in waves to shield her face. Peaking up at me, her chocolate brown eyes were gleaming with mirth. "I wanted to ask you a favor, if possible."

"Of course, I will help out however I can, ma'am." I tipped an imaginary hat at her; now that Alice wasn't attached to me I could actually be myself and let the southern boy in me come back out. Besides, it seemed the more southern I was, the easier Bella found it to be around me and I also had a feeling that it would make Raven happy too. I mean, she had been around me my whole life so it would only make sense that she would like the old me better.

Again with the blush, but this time Bella made eye contact with me. With a sigh, she finally spoke. "It's nothing major. Not anything like what I had been considering, but that was a seriously drastic measure and one Edward would not be too fond of. I don't do dances, I don't dance. I need you to help me maintain a modicum of emotional composure tonight so I don't come away scarred for life."

I couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped my lips. Bella really was a strange human. I considered her request and nodded, not like I was going to be doing anything at the dance anyways. Going stag usually meant complete boredom. "I will help under one condition."

A small wave of trepidation escaped her normally emotion free area. "That is?"

"Well, two actually." I smiled as her hope faltered. "One, as I am going alone, I would like one dance and two, I want to know what drastic measures you were willing to go to if my prissy brother wouldn't have gotten his panties in a wad over it."

"Oh, um, I guess you can have a dance as long as you don't laugh at me." She blushed as she darted her eyes in Edward's direction. I followed the glance and I saw Edward grimace, most likely over my previous comment and nod his acceptance. "I don't know about the other condition though."

Knowing that it had to do with the understanding of vampiric hearing, I leaned down so I could whisper in her ear, inhaling her scent in the process. Taking a second to enjoy my reaction to her delectable scent, I whispered so only she could hear me. "If you promise to tell me when they can't hear you, then I will help."

Leaning back I looked in her eyes and saw her dart another glance at Edward before nodding, as she didn't say anything I arched my brow at her in question.

With a huff she nodded again. "Fine, I promise."

"Thank you, ma'am." Again I tipped my imaginary hat. "It was a pleasure doing business with you." I laughed softly as I turned to walk away, but not before placing my hand on her shoulder and sending her a wave of calm and confidence to which she looked grateful.

An hour later found us all enjoying ourselves with the rest of Forks High at their so called Prom. It was a laugh since it really wasn't prom in the least. It was just a dance that the whole school could go to, not just the seniors. Either way, I would admit, to myself at least, that I was glad to have been badgered into attending. Watching the other teenagers act like fools was really entertaining and watching Rose and Em show off on the dance floor was always good for a few laughs. Everyone around stopped to watch them move, never having seen a teenager move like they did. Right now they were waltzing and I had the strangest urge to join in.

I knew then I was going to collect on that dance promise. Walking over to Edward, I heard him chuckle. He knew what I was doing. Stopping in front of him, I mock bowed then moved to stand in front of Bella. With a more formal bow, I held out my hand to her. "Ma'am, I believe you owe me a dance."

Fear spiked through her as she looked to Edward for support and got none.

"You did promise him a dance, love." He said as he lightly pushed her forward.

Instinctively she placed her hand in mine to help keep her balance and I took advantage of the connection to send her some confidence with a tinge of boldness. "Fine, but don't complain later if the klutzy human manages to break an indestructible vampire."

I laughed as I tucked her hand in the crook of my elbow and led her out to the dance floor. Turning to stand in front of her, I bowed again before placing my right hand on her waist and taking her right hand in my left. I flashed her my most charming smile and winked. "Trust me, if you let me lead I will make you look as good as Rose over there."

"Really." She hmphed as she looked to where Rose and Emmett were dancing. "I think someone has an inflated ego."

"Nope, I just know what I can do." I had to laugh again as we were already dancing and she seemed not to even notice. Listening to the music, I followed the rise and fall of the notes and spun her out with perfect timing to the music. She finally noticed we were dancing. Pulling her back into my arms, I turned so that I was leading but going backwards. "Why are you so surprised?"

"Damn vampires with powers." She blushed. "Well, one I hadn't noticed that we were dancing and two, I have never danced before where I didn't either trip over my own feet or hurt my dance partner. So I know it's coming and it was shocking to realize I had been dancing without mishap so far."

"I promise, Bella, as long as I've got you I will never let you fall." I felt a wave of annoyance hit me from the other side of the dance floor. _Oh can it, Edward, you know what I meant._ Even over the music I could hear his sigh. "And Bella, you can't hurt me."

Bella laughed as I lead her around the dance floor and as promised, she neither fell nor hurt me for the rest of the song. As the song ended, I stepped back from her and bowed. "Thank you for the dance, ma'am."

"Ever the southern gentleman, Mr. Hale." She giggled as she curtseyed. "Thank you for the dance and for not letting me fall."

"I keep my promises, Ms. Swan. Now I believe there is a certain stricken young man hovering on the edge of the dance floor awaiting your return to his side." I placed my hand at the small of her back, guiding her towards said vampire. "You don't need me to make you comfortable here, Bella, just be yourself and you will be fine."

As we reached Edward, she stopped and turned to look at me. I couldn't read her emotions or her face as she was keeping it studiously calm. Then she surprised me for the second time that evening and this time I did react.

"Maybe you should take your own advice, Jasper." Bella whispered before placing her hands on my shoulders to pull herself up, placing a soft kiss on my cheek.

I gasped and looked at her in complete shock. She was still keeping me from feeling her emotions, but I knew I was projecting my shock and bemusement. Here was this small human showing no signs of fear to be around me, unlike my family, and she was giving me advice while kissing my cheek. That was quite the turnaround and I wish all of my family would pay more attention to our little human. She was bringing about changes in us by just being around us and that is hard to do as vampires are not notably known for accepting change well.

Edward shook his head as he pulled her back into his side, turning them away to go get her something to drink most likely. They made it to the table with the drinks on it when I caught Bella looking back at me, winking at me when she caught my eye.

"I mean it Jasper, take your own advice."

I nodded and turned away, not sure where I was going until I found myself standing outside looking up at the stars. I leaned back against the building as I looked to the heavens for answers. Answers to all of my questions. Why did my family think I had such little control? Why did they think that and still let me go to school? Was I not meant to be a part of this family? What did I have to do to be accepted by them? What did I need to do to be ready for Raven?

That last one honestly bothered me more than the rest as I had all but accepted how my family looked at me decades ago. Everyone else can have a slip up and be forgiven, but since I spent so long drinking from our natural food source and had a soldier's background, they all worried more about me. Yet I had only slipped once since starting this new diet. Carlisle and Rose were the only two who had never slipped since their changes and yet everyone else was forgiven but me. I knew that one day it would cause a rift in the family and I always wondered if they would be better off without me around to drag them down. If I left, they wouldn't have to worry about me.

I could always go back to Peter and Charlotte. I knew they would always accept me with open arms. I missed them; it had been too long since I last saw them. Thinking hard on that, I decided to go visit them after we graduated for the umpteenth time. Planning that out made me feel better, but then I was struck by Bella's words from earlier. I chuckled as I remembered her telling me to take my own advice. Did she think I wasn't being myself? Did she think I was hiding something?

I thought about that and I had to admit that I was. Ever since I found Alice in that diner, she had molded me into what she wanted. And I let her. I thought that if I allowed her to turn me into what she wanted then she would want to stay with me and wouldn't leave me alone. That thought process continued well into our first years with the Cullens and then it just turned into a force of habit to let Alice dress me along with the rest of the family. She had instantly turned her nose up at my choice of jeans, button downs and boots.

I realized then just how far from my roots I had allowed her to drag me. I no longer resembled anything of my former self and I missed that. I needed to find myself again, I needed to be Jasper Whitlock, not this fabricated preppy follower Jasper Hale. After graduation I was going to change my name back, but starting tomorrow, I was going to go back to being Jasper Whitlock, Major from the Civil War, southern gentleman and cowboy extraordinaire.

**AN –So who expected sweet little Bella to throw Jasper's words back at him? I love that she is a bit more feisty and that Jasper is going back to his roots. Why would anyone want to kill that sexy southern drawl? Ok, enough of all this. What are your thoughts? Please, I live for reviews.**

**Don't forget there is the FB page for updates and discussions. Just search for Bella &amp; Jasper – Love Under a Blood Moon and you should be able to find it easily. It will be the hub for all Twilight fanfic discussions as I have Darkness as well as one shots that are in the works. If you aren't reading Darkness…I highly recommend it, lol, but I may be a bit biased.**


	8. Research

**AN – And here is another update for tonight. Two updates in one day, I'm impressed. This is where we really start to veer off of the original Twilight path and the tweaking is kicked up a few notches. Until then, I give you the next tweaked chapter. Enjoy!**

Chapter 8

**JPOV**

By the end of the weekend I had completely cleaned out my closet and replaced the preppy things that Alice had dressed me in with my more normal attire. Wranglers, plain t-shirts, button downs and of course my boots. The one thing that I knew I needed to always be comfortable and to be myself was my boots. It didn't take long for Alice to start moaning and groaning over my choice of clothes and I just smiled at her every time she tried to fight me on throwing something out. Well, putting it in a box to donate to a homeless shelter that is. We may spend money frivolously on clothes, but we made sure to donate whenever we could.

It wasn't much longer and we were all preparing to graduate. I still spent as much of my time out of the house as possible looking for Raven or researching on my laptop all of the possibilities of what she could be. This was a rare occasion for me, I was home doing some research and Carlisle was home as well. The rest of the family was out hunting and Bella had been convinced to spend the day at the reservation with her dad and their friends. Edward was none too pleased about it, but I thought it was a good thing for her to have friends outside of this obsession with Edward. Although I felt more of the obsession coming from Edward than Bella, her feelings were more complex than Edward's, but I never really felt a deep seeded love for him within her. I never spent much time trying to analyze their relationship, but there were times that they would do or say something that would get me thinking.

I was sitting on my couch with my laptop in my lap, staring off into space. I honestly thought that I had researched all creatures that I could think of that might explain everything that I knew about Raven and yet I was still coming up with nothing. I kept going over and over what little information that I knew about Raven and I think I was starting to drive myself a bit insane. That was how Carlisle found me, lost in thought.

"Jasper?" Carlisle knocked on the open door, trying to get my attention. "Son?"

"Huh?" I shook my head and looked to the doorway. "Did you need something, Carlisle?"

He smiled at me. "Actually, I was coming to check on you. You have been acting a little odd lately and I just wanted to make sure that everything was ok."

"I thought I was naturally the odd one in this family." I snarked back with a smile.

"Well, yes, but I guess it is more than normal. You usually go hunting with Emmett or Edward and now you go alone. When you aren't hunting, you are holed up in here with your laptop out. You are my son, Jasper, so I worry about you." He paused like he was trying to find the correct wording for his thoughts. "You know you can talk to me about anything. I am always here for you."

I thought about that. Could I ask for his help? Raven told me not to tell anyone about her, but if I'm just trying to find out what she could possibly be based on what I know; it couldn't hurt to get Carlisle's input on it. I just had to do it in a way where it wasn't obvious that I had a serious reason for this research. I refused to go against what she wanted and to be honest; I liked having her as my own secret, something that I didn't share with anyone else. I decided to see what I could learn from him regarding the realm of us supernatural creatures.

"I would like to ask you a few questions actually. If you have time that is." I said, feeling uncertain of my decision. I knew I was walking a fine line, but I also knew that I needed this information so that I can finally learn what I needed to do to be ready for her.

"Of course, Jasper." Carlisle responded with a smile as he moved further into the room. Taking a seat in the only other chair in my study, he rested his elbows on his knees and faced me. "So, what is it that I can help you with?"

"Well, I recently became intrigued with us, or rather supernatural creatures as a whole." I was a century old vampire and I was close to stuttering, this is horrible. "I am trying to figure out what creatures would fit with certain characteristics."

Carlisle looked intrigued at the topic. "I'm not sure what help I can provide if you are stumped, but you are more than welcome to pick my brain as Emmett would say."

I chuckled. "Well, I'm not about the picking your brain thing, I'm not a zombie."

Carlisle laughed. "Alright, I get it, no more Emmett idioms. So, care to tell me where this new interest of yours came from?"

Oh shit, I should have prepared better for this. I should have known that he was going to be intrigued about my questions. Think fast, think fast. "Oh, it was just something that Peter and I had talked about when I finally experienced freedom. We used to debate about the types of monsters, as he put it, that were actually out there and which ones were just myth."

"Well, I am always up for an intellectual conversation." He smiled and gestured for me to start.

Taking an unnecessary breath, I reminded myself I needed to be cautious of how I went about this conversation. "I'm not sure where to start actually. Out of all of the talks that I had with Peter, there was one that we could never agree on. It was something that we had heard about in Maria's camp, we just don't know what it could have been."

"So you have characteristics that you are trying to figure out belong to what supernatural? Is that what you are saying?"

"Yes, so maybe with your experiences and time with the Vulturi, you might have a better insight into what this could possibly be." I looked at him, feeling a small sense of hope. I really needed to figure out what Raven was as that might be the key to finally meeting her.

"Ok, I hope I can help out. What are the qualities of this creature?" Carlisle steepled his fingers in anticipation.

"There aren't that many actually. First, this creature is either immortal or has a really long life, as one of the newborns had been told that one had been around for a few centuries. This creature is very elusive, when someone speaks about it, it's always with the feeling that the creature is very rarely seen, but does open up communication. It seems to have control over those that it comes in contact with and always comes across as a watcher or maybe even a guardian of sorts. It also either has the ability to cloak itself or it truly exists on another plane or even has the ability of teleportation. Neither Peter nor I have been able to figure out what this could be nor if it's even real."

"Interesting." Carlisle looked thoroughly intrigued. "It is not a vampire unless one exists with multiple talents, which is unheard of at this time. That doesn't sound like a werewolf or even a shape shifter as neither has a long life. Would not be a witch or wizard as they do not have a very long lifespan either, thankfully. I fully believe that since we exist, other realms or planes would exist as well so it could be some type of fae. I have a question for you though. Did either you or Peter think about this in a more spiritual way?"

"Fae? Spiritual?" I was momentarily dumbstruck as to why I never thought of those. "No we didn't think of either of those. I am more of the type of if I can't see it then it doesn't exist, so either of those are a hard sell for me."

"I understand, Jasper, I really do. As I was raised in a house of faith, these are more readily acceptable to me. In all honesty, I do not believe that we are talking about any of the fae. From what I read in the Vulturi library, if they do truly exist they are more of a solitary species. They tend to keep to themselves." Carlisle started to smile. "As for the spiritual aspect, a lot of what you described fits what I know of angels, well guardian angels that is. It used to be a belief that everyone was assigned a guardian angel upon birth. Back when man first walked this earth it would have made more sense that everyone would get their own angel. Nowadays, humans are putting the poor rabbits to shame."

I couldn't help the snicker that escaped me at that. "Emmett really is rubbing off on you, Carlisle. I can't really argue with you though."

"Emmett really does rub off on you after a while." Carlisle bowed his head before diving back into the conversation. "The time I was with the Vulturi, I did my own research in the tomes and tomes of information that had been collected about the happenings in this world. There were multiple accounts of a devout human going through the change and waking to our world calmer than normal with tales of having someone there to comfort them through the burn. I was able to speak with one such vampire and her account of how blessed she felt during her change would make anyone believe in guardian angels. All of the accounts state that once the change is complete, the angel leaves to guard a new life."

"If they leave after the change, then how would that fit with what I have heard? These were all tales that came from vampire interactions after the change. The way you describe them fits with everything I have heard, but if they only deal with humans, then this has to be something else." My brain started turning over everything he said in a new direction, one I wasn't so sure I was ok with. "I guess it stands to reason that if angels exist so do demons. Could everything that I've heard be explained by a demon?"

Carlisle looked at me, deep in thought. "It could be possible. Those that believe we are damned upon the change would say that if humans have angels then we, the soulless, have demons. I'm not sure where I stand on that thought process, but I can see the logic behind it. For those that believe we are damned, then we would belong to the devil. As God would send his angels to guard over his progeny, then so would the devil. You might want to speak to Edward about that. He believes that we are damned so he may have more input on that aspect. I personally believe our choices in this life decide where we go upon our final death, so I believe that we could possibly have guardian angels as well. I'm not sure what they would be watching over one of our kind for, but I have faith that it is possible."

"That's definitely a lot to think about." I sighed as I turned to look out the window. I knew I had a lot to think about thanks to Carlisle.

"Carlisle?"

We both turned to find Edward in the doorway to my study. Carlisle stood from his seat. "What is it Edward?"

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to interrupt you two." Edward shot me a worried glance. "I was wondering if I could speak to you privately when you are done talking with Jasper."

Carlisle looked at me and I nodded. "We were just having a philosophical conversation. Is everything ok Edward?"

"I have a few worries and I just need to talk to you about them."

I picked up on his emotions and there was worry and fear as well as sorrow. "Edward, what's wrong? Your emotions are all over the place. Is Bella alright?"

Edward cringed at my question. "Not right now, Jasper. I just need to speak with Carlisle."

I put my hands up in surrender. I knew when our resident emo was doing his thing and I never wanted any part of it. I had enough emotional fun to deal with on my own. "He's all yours, Eddie."

He huffed. "Don't call me that, Jasper, please."

I laughed and rose from my seat. "You two enjoy your chat. If either of you need me, I will be out, finding some peace and quiet so I can think. You know how to find me."

They both nodded as I passed them and caught a wave of annoyance from Edward. I was too lost in my own thoughts that I didn't even let him affect me at all. I knew if he had a real issue with me then he would seek me out to let me know all about it. I quickly made my way out of the house and into the surrounding woods; I knew where I would find my peace and it just so happened to be where I usually encountered my Raven. I wasn't going there on the hopes of seeing her again; I just seemed to be pulled to it when I was troubled. I couldn't use my ability to calm myself, but the area by the cliff seemed to have its own calming effect on me. One that I really needed right now so that I could sort through the whirling thoughts in my head.

**AN – Do you think it was wise of Jasper to go to Carlisle for help? Will the mysterious Raven learn or will she even notice what Jasper is doing? What do you think of the ideas Carlisle came up with? Is Raven a demon or something else? Tell me your thoughts and review. You guys are awesome and the reviews are what I write for. Till next time….**

**Don't forget there is the FB page for updates and discussions. Just search for Bella &amp; Jasper – Love Under a Blood Moon and you should be able to find it easily. It will be the hub for all Twilight fanfic discussions as I have Darkness as well as one shots that are in the works. If you aren't reading Darkness…I highly recommend it, lol, but I may be a bit biased.**


	9. Fire

**AN – It's a holiday update. I am going to try to work on updating some of the other stories as well to make this a true holiday week. I have two other updates almost ready so I might actually get to make it happen. Oh well, enough of my rambling…you read and enjoy this chapter. And a quick note, this really is off of the beaten path and on a path of my own creation. Hopefully everyone likes **

Chapter 9

**JPOV**

Looking out into the space over the cliff's edge, I thought about what all Carlisle had said. If I put everything that Raven had told me or let slip then I might be able to believe that Carlisle could be correct. It was almost the only thing that fit as there wasn't anything supernatural out there that seemed to fit what I knew about her. Or what I thought I knew since I had never seen her. This was such a mess and I was tired of second guessing everything. I needed to figure out what I needed to know in order to be ready to finally see Raven.

I began pacing along the edge of the cliff, lost in thought and talking through my thoughts out loud. "She's older than me, even when adding in my human years. She has the ability to either disappear or teleport. I am the only one she talks to."

I groaned. I felt like I was going through the same things over and over again. I roughly ran my hands through my hair, taking some of my frustration out on my unsuspecting head. "She can't be an angel, I never heard wings and if they are anything like what we have been lead to believe, then I doubt you could be silent with wings around the sensitive hearing of us vampires. She leaves me feathers as reminders and they appear to be from a raven. Maybe she is a shifter?"

Stopping momentarily I watched as a hawk flew past the edge of the cliff and out over the water below. Even the beauty of that bird in flight couldn't distract me from the frustration of trying to figure out what I was dealing with. Just then I was glad that I was alone out here as I noticed that I had lost my control of my emotions and I was projecting all of my feelings. Reining them back in, I sighed again and tried to calm myself back down. It wouldn't do me any good to let my emotions get in the way of solving this conundrum I found myself in.

Going back to my pacing, I ran through everything I knew and every conversation that I had had with Raven since she talked to me the first time over thirty years ago. Even after an hour of dissecting everything that she said, I was no closer to figuring her out than I was before I came out here. At this point, I was almost to the point of not caring what she was just as long as I was able to actually meet her. Once I settled on that thought I immediately regretted it as I knew that would keep me from my goal. I needed to settle down and get this figured out.

Hours later I was still pacing along the edge of the cliff and mumbling to myself, going over the same facts over and over again. If I was human I knew I would be doing this in my sleep due to the repetition. "I'm no closer to solving this than I was six hours ago." I growled and I pulled on my hair again in frustration.

"I'm not sure you would look good bald."

I spun at the sound of the voice and was shocked to find Bella standing at the edge of the trees watching me. "Bella."

She nodded at me and stepped out closer to me. "If you don't like your hair I'm sure you could get Alice or Rose to give you a new style."

I just looked at her in confusion. What was this human doing all the way out here?

"You have been mumbling and yanking on your hair for a while now. I just thought that if you needed a change with your hair you could find a less painful way to go about it." Bella laughed.

"Oh." Turning my back on her, I looked out over the cliff again and noticed that the sun was setting. "Well, hell."

"You are a strange vampire." Bella murmured as she walked up beside me. "Do you normally talk to yourself or was this just a special occasion?"

I looked at her out of the corner of my eye, still trying to figure out why she was out here and how she managed to sneak up on me. Again. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice deflection, cowboy." She snapped. "Not going to work. I went walking and here is where I ended up to apparently witness your mental breakdown."

I snorted at her. Mental breakdown? Me? Not bloody likely. I sighed, having to acknowledge that I had been watching way too much Hell's Kitchen with Emmett. "Not a mental breakdown. Vampires do not have those issues. I was just trying to work through a problem and didn't realize I was vocalizing it."

"Oh, well in that case, talk to me. It's always easier to figure something out if you talk to someone. Even if you just use them as a sounding board." She turned to me. "So talk away."

"Thank you, but no. This is something I need to figure out on my own regardless of how frustrating it is." I looked back out to the sunset. "And what is the real reason that I have the joy of your surprise company?"

She huffed. "I told you. I went for a walk and ended up here. Don't believe me?"

I laughed. "Well, out of all of the times that you have been to the house you have never gone anywhere without Edward at your side and I know with how he obsesses over your safety that you have never ventured out of the house alone. Not that I'm complaining that you're here or nothin', I just don't want your boyfriend to get mad and think I tried to kidnap you."

Bella sighed and started her own pacing. "Don't think it will get that far, cowboy. He doesn't even know I came by. Apparently I can be super stealthy without trying and he didn't even notice when I showed up. He was in Carlisle's study and they were arguing over something that had to do with me. I stood outside the closed door for a while and heard enough to send me for a walk. I have learned that I think best out in the wilderness."

As she made to pass by me again in her pacing I turned and put my hands on her shoulders. "Ok, little human, why don't we start at the beginning and you tell me what's going on. I might be able to help you out where Eddie boy is concerned."

Bella momentarily let down her guard and let me feel her emotions. I was hit with sorrow, worry and fear all tinged with a hint of hope. "Maybe I should start with prom?"

I was taken aback, I had completely forgotten about her promise from before prom. Nodding, I dropped my arms and sat down facing the cliff again. I waited for her to gather her thoughts as she sat next to me. With a sigh, she folded her hands in her lap and shut off her emotions again.

"I know you feel every emotion around you and for my part in that I am very sorry. After Edward explained your gift to me I did my best to not let my emotions be a problem to you and yet, the harder I tried the worse I felt. I wanted to talk to you about it but he always managed to have something for us to do so I couldn't talk to you. He never did explain to me why he felt the need to keep me away from you."

"Maybe I can explain that one for you." Closing my eyes, I prepared to explain to the one person here that accepts me why they shouldn't. "I know he told you that I had a rough start to this life and you've seen some of my scars. Because of my upbringing the family finds it hard to trust me around humans, always afraid that I will slip and drain someone. It's hard for me to live with that but I have grown to expect it over the years. So I'm sure both of us will be getting an ear full when the family, especially Edward, learns that you are out here alone with me, the family's black sheep."

She sighed as she looked at me out of the corner of her eye. "Why do you let them treat you so badly?"

"That's a very good question, one I have been trying to answer for the past couple of months actually. I know they don't mean to hurt me with their lack of faith in me, but none of them had the same start to this life as I did. Carlisle resisted blood until he found himself in the woods and a herd of deer caught his attention and he learned that he could survive that way. Edward was changed by Carlisle and was introduced to this lifestyle from the moment he woke as a vampire. Being the teen that he is, he rebelled against his 'dad' and left for about a decade and hunted the criminals thanks to his gift. After he came back to Carlisle, he has never slipped again.

"Rosalie has killed humans but has never fed from our natural food source. Her story truly is her's to tell, but her control around humans is amazing. Both Esme and Emmett have had minor slips, usually relating to one of them finding their singer or being exposed to a human's blood when they were hungry. And Alice, she knew from the time she woke to this life that there was another way to live and that she had to bring me to it. She is another one that has only slipped a time or two, which is amazing when you think about it. Then there is me. Edward thinks he is a soulless monster when out of our family, only I can claim that. Everyone else is an angel compared to me."

Bella let out a sigh as she reached over and took my hand. "Both you and Edward have told me bits about your life and I fully believe that there is nothing that you can tell me that would make me believe that you are a soulless monster. You may have started that way, but you are anything but that now. If you were, I doubt I would be sitting out here alone with you."

"You wouldn't be sitting, that's for sure." I grimaced as I caught how that sounded. "Let me explain. When I was changed by Maria and indoctrinated into her army, we were rewarded for jobs well done with blood and sex. It didn't matter to us if the sex was with other vampires or with our food. Back then playing with your food was not frowned upon like it is now. I remember going weeks without food due to some kind of punishment and then taking out another newborn army that we were pit against. I lead the assault and had most of the newborns at the mercy of my gift so it made it possibly for a clean and quick win. Maria was so pleased with me that I was given first pick of the humans that had been captured for our food. I still remember the horrid things that I did that night and it makes me cringe just thinking about it now. Those are not things that you need to hear so I won't go into detail. Needless to say, I was big on the playing before eating, quenching multiple thirsts in the process.

"Remembering those decades helps me to stay on the vegetarian diet and allows me to subject myself to the constant torture of living the Cullen lifestyle of constantly going to school. Believe me, going to school is not something that I want to do nor do I enjoy it, but being a part of this family you have no choice if you are introduced as one of the 'kids'." I looked down and noticed that she still had a hold of my hand and was tracing circles on the back of it with her fingers.

"I hope one day, cowboy, you will tell me your whole story as I believe it will do both of us a lot of good." Bella looked out over the water, a sense of sorrow escaping her blocked emotions. "I don't understand their reaction to you, but I guess that does explain why Edward acts the way he does. I wish he would listen to me, but everything has to be done his way. I know he does things to protect me, but I did manage to survive for eighteen years just fine without him. So I guess now you know about the issue that I had before prom. He forced me to go, said it was a human moment that I had to experience whether I wanted to or not. Human moment. That's another issue with us. It's like he is intrigued with being with a human more than being with me. Does that make sense?"

I groaned and closed my eyes. I knew this day was coming, the day where she would figure out that her relationship was very one sided. This was not a conversation that I was looking forward to having, especially today.

"How long have you know, cowboy?"

"You are much more perceptive than we give you credit for." I opened my eyes and looked into her worried gaze. "You are correct. Edward's fascination with you is that you are silent to him. Around you he gets to relax, as long as no one else is around. That he does enjoy, but it also drives him crazy as no one should be immune to his gift in his mind. I can sort of understand as you are able to block your emotions from me, but as much as I may desire to know what you are feeling it is nice to only feel my emotions."

Bella wrinkled her nose in frustration. "Well, I am glad I am able to give you some sort of peace. As for Edward, his actions don't sound like those of a loving boyfriend. Am I just some kind of distraction or science experiment to him? That is what it sounded like from his conversation with Carlisle earlier. As much as I am grateful to you and your family for taking me in and saving me from James, I don't know what I'm going to do about Edward. I don't want to lose the family, but I also don't want to be with someone who doesn't want to be with me for me. I…"

Sensing emotions close to us I held up my hand, cutting her off. Standing from the ground, I turned so I was looking into the woods behind us. I could sense a multitude of emotions, sorrow and rage were the two strongest emotions and they were getting closer very quickly. I could also sense fear, but that was farther away as though that person was chasing whoever was so full of rage. I felt Bella stand next to me and I put my arm out in front of her to keep her behind me. A shiver ran through me as she placed her hands on my arm and I almost missed it as we were joined by a new vampire.

"Well, blondie, I wasn't expecting to find you here. All I want is the human."

Bella shuddered as she looked upon the vampire before us. In her shock she dropped her shield and I was hit with her emotions. At first the strongest emotion I felt from her was her fear and that almost knocked me to my knees, but then I felt something I only ever felt from two others in my entire existence. The fear was still there but it was almost completely drowned out by her faith in me to protect her. Her trust kept me on my feet and had me crouched before her, ready to take on the redheaded menace in front of us.

"Honestly, I only came for her. She was the reason that I lost my James and for that she needs to die. You lot took my mate from me and for that I am going to take the mind reader's mate from him." Victoria took a menacing step forwards. "Hand her over. She is not yours to protect."

I growled low in my throat. "There is nothing for you here, nomad. If your mate wouldn't have attacked one of our family he would still be here. As he decided to try to take her away from us, he is now ash. As she is my family, she is mine to protect."

"Jasper, you don't need to protect me. It's not your place." Bella whispered behind me.

Without taking my eyes from the threat, I curled my arm around Bella and pulled her into my back, keeping my body between her and Victoria. "Bells, you are family no matter if you are with my brother or not. So just accept that I am going to protect you as I have before. I will do whatever I have to to protect you."

Victoria laughed. "How touching. Are you trying to steal your brother's mate from him? How sad is that? Makes me glad that I am of the nomadic life, that way I don't have to deal with the humanlike drama of mate stealing."

The thought of what she was implying brought my beast to the gate of the cage I kept him locked up tight in. He was rattling the cage, demanding his release and I was close to letting him have it. The only thing that gets to me more than the ones I care for being in danger, is someone insinuating that I could in any way shape or form cause them harm. I growled again and sunk lower in my crouch.

Bella seemed to sense what was happening as she placed her hands on my shoulders and leaned down so she could whisper in my ear. "I trust you, Major. I know what is in your heart and know that what she speaks is just filth. Do not let her pull your strings. You are an honorable man, Major, and I know you will keep me safe."

"How touching." Victoria snarled. "Even if I have to go through you, blondie, I will get what I came for. I would, however, like to get this over with soon as I am actually feeling a might peckish and would like a snack before I go."

Just the thought of her trying to harm Bella had me pulling her tighter against my back as I growled. "You will not lay a hand on her."

Victoria snarled and launched forward only to be caught unaware as Edward came crashing out of the woods causing her to stop to reassess what was going on.

Edward stopped and looked from Victoria to where I stood with Bella and back. I could feel the fear and confusion coming off of him in waves. He just stood there, lost in his emotions.

Victoria broke the silence with her laughter. "Well, now it seems like I will have the pleasure of making the mind reader suffer while I drain his mate. Definitely hadn't expected things to turn out so well when I thought up this little plan of mine."

Edward looked at me and then at Bella behind me, his confusion apparent. "Jasper, what is she going on about and why is my Bella out here with you?"

I growled. "Victoria here is wanting revenge for the death of James and Bella…"

"Focus, Major." Bella tightened her grip on my shirt before cutting me off. "Edward, not like now is the time, but I stopped by earlier and you were talking with Carlisle. I overheard you and decided to go for a walk to think and I happened upon the growling one you see standing or crouching before me."

As he took in her words, his confusion started to melt away into annoyance and fear. "Bella, love, I'm not sure what you heard, but I can explain. Let me get you out of here and we can talk."

I shook my head at his ignorance. "Edward, we have a slightly bigger problem here if you haven't noticed. You care to help rectify this situation or will I have to do everything?"

"Don't take that tone with me, Jasper. I know we have a problem, that's why I'm here. I heard her snooping around the house and followed her as all she was thinking about was killing my Bella." He ignored Bella's snort as his claim of ownership. "I wasn't worried until I picked up her scent outside the house so I followed Victoria so that I could stop her. Imagine my surprise when I come across this little scene with you holding on to my Bella."

"Again, bigger problems." I snarled as I kept my eyes on Victoria.

"Both of you boys can squabble over who will get to save the girl and while you do that I will take the girl. Everyone is happy, yes?"

I watched as Edward was about to start to argue her point, but he didn't get very far as he was knocked to the other side of the little clearing. In the time it took for him to land, Victoria had pulled a lighter out of her pocket and I was then watching as she moved towards me with a flame getting dangerously close to my very flammable body. I moved to take a step back but found that with Bella behind me, we were already on the edge of the cliff. I could survive the fall, but even if I shielded her body I didn't think she would make it.

"Major, now is a good time to do something." Bella whispered into my shoulder.

I growled at her, not enjoying her pointing out our predicament. Quickly glancing around the clearing, I saw one chance for us to get away without going over the edge, but I had to time it just right. "Do you trust me?"

"Silly vampire, of course I do." She giggled, she actually giggled her response.

I shook my head at the crazy human and kept my eyes on Victoria, but also kept my senses trained on Edward who was still trying to extract himself from the bushes he was thrown into. Seeing that our chance was fast approaching, I tightened my arm around Bella, preparing to lift her onto my back so I could run us to safety. "Get ready."

Her only response was to place her hands on my shoulders as if getting ready to hold on for her life. Her trust in me gave me the hope I had been missing before in my life and it was something that I would have to figure out later how I was going to keep that hope alive. Seeing my chance, I lifted her off her feet and smiled as she wrapped her legs around my waist. With one last glance, I darted to my right, away from Edward, hoping to get away from the crazed vampire in front of us.

What happened next left me shocked to my very core. As I took my first steps away from the cliff's edge I was cut off by an unexpected bought of flame that sent me stumbling back. Normally I would have been able to catch myself, but the added weight of Bella on my back kept me stumbling backwards until there wasn't anything under my feet. I had a moment of confusion before I felt my body begin to fall through open air.

"Holy fuck!" I shouted as I quickly pulled Bella around so that she was on top of me. I looked up into her face and wondered at her lack of fear. "I'm sorry, Bells. I will try to use my body to break the fall. I can't promise that you won't get hurt, but I should be able to keep you in one piece."

Bella laughed as she essentially laid out on top of me and then she wrapped her arms around me. As I started to twist to get her arms back to safety I felt her tighten her hold on me and it was much tighter than it should have been for a human. Her arms loosened long enough to flip me so that I was going face first towards the water and I grimaced as I knew that would actually hurt me.

"Bella, what are you doing? I need to land on my back so that we both make it out of this."

"Oh my silly vampire." She whispered into my ear. "You will want to see this, I promise, as it appears that circumstances have forced my hand. Fate seems to think that you are finally ready."

"Ready? Ready for what? What are you going on about?" Again, crazy human.

She sighed in my ear as she tightened her arms around me, her right hand lying flat over where my heart no longer beat. "I told you, you are ready. So, my vampire, get ready to meet your elusive raven."

I gasped, there was no way that she could know about her and yet, as those thoughts flew through my head I saw that she had to be correct. Instead of hitting the water I felt myself being jerked up away from the water. In my shock it took me a few seconds to notice that we were gliding across the water almost as if we were flying. Looking over my shoulder, I saw first her smiling face and then the great expanse of her black wings.

**AN – It shouldn't be shocking that Victoria ended up being the catalyst to force the issue with who Raven is. Is her identity a surprise to anyone? Any ideas on what Bella heard Edward and Carlisle talking about? Ok, it's time for you lovely readers to review and for me to get back the story. Till next time….**

**Don't forget there is the FB page for updates and discussions. Just search for Bella &amp; Jasper – Love Under a Blood Moon and you should be able to find it easily. It will be the hub for all Twilight fanfic discussions as I have Darkness as well as one shots that are in the works. If you aren't reading Darkness…I highly recommend it, lol, but I may be a bit biased.**


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